


Flying With Tiny Wings

by audhds



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Actually so do I, Age Regression/De-Aging, Baby Castiel (Supernatural), Castiel Angst, Castiel Feels, Castiel Whump, Castiel is a Sweetheart, Castiel is adorable, De-Aged Castiel (Supernatural), Dean Really Needs A Beer, Dean is Not Amused, Dean is So Done, How hard can raising a baby angel be...oh...very, Hurt Castiel, Physical Abuse, The Winchester Nanny Service, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-11 06:21:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10457382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audhds/pseuds/audhds
Summary: Once again, Dean's peaceful beer has been interrupted, this time from Gabriel appearing from thin air. The archangel is holding his guts in with one arm, and huddling a bundle of blankets to his chest with the other. And then the fucker zapped back to heaven or something, leaving Dean and Sam with a tiny, blue-eyed angel...great!





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya :) Just a fairly fluffy fic with some hurt and comfort along the way! I hope that you enjoy. This story has been fully read and edited so posts will be every day. Please let me know what you think!

Dean sank down onto the sofa with a huff.

It was nine in the morning and the Winchester brothers had just got back from a hunt…one massive cock-up of a hunt. You name it, it had gone wrong.

Dean had just spent the past twenty minutes stitching up a deep gash in his leg and had been forced to take a freezing cold shower as Sam had used up all of the hot water washing his hair.

His brother was such a girl!

But at least there was one thing that he could always fall back on.

Alcohol.

He was just about to enjoy a cool beer and get some shut eye when he heard an all too familiar flutter of wings coming from the lounge area of their motel room – it had been the only room available and although it cost more, Dean and Sam had been pleased with the small rest area, kitchenette and larger bathroom than usual. It made a nice change for Sam to be able to fit his gigantor frame into a room comfortably without constantly banging into things and bruising his elbows!

With a sigh he went back out into the lounge, where he saw a hunched over figure on the floor, clutching something to his chest with Sam peering over him concernedly.

But the figure was not wearing an oversized beige trenchcoat.

Great, that just left…

Dean groaned when he recognized the khaki green jacket and black shirt that the arch angel was wearing.

It was bad enough when Cas popped up out of nowhere and invaded their personal space, but Gabriel…well that was going way too far.

"Gabriel, what the hell are you…?"

"Dean! Sam! Damn am I glad to see you boys."

"Yeah, well, great we aint glad to see you!"

"Now is not the time for joking about!" Gabriel stumbled to his feet, still clinging onto the bundle in his arms.

"Are you serious…you, telling us not to joke about?"

"I am deadly serious."

Gabriel's legs began to buckle again and he nearly fell, tightening his grip on the bundled up blanket with one arm and clutching at his side with the other.

Then the Winchesters noticed it, Gabriel was practically holding his own guts in.

There was blood everywhere.

That would explain why he didn't look as cocky as usual!

"Woah, what the hell happened?"

"Not hell, heaven. Look, please, I don't have long, I need to go and sort some things out. Look after my brother."

Gabriel thrust the bundle of blankets into Dean's automatically outstretching arms before staggering backwards a little.

"What, no way, you can't just…"

There was a flutter of wings.

"…leave us without explaining what is going on."

"Dude, did he just dump a baby on you?"

"Yep."

"Oh…um, wow…you, holding a baby. Now there's a sight I never thought I'd see!"

Dean looked at the baby, which he was holding at arms length and shot Sam a dirty look.

"Hey, I'm amazing with kids!"

"Well that's debatable."

"Need I remind you that I am a qualified teddy bear doctor?! And besides, I looked after your scrawny ass for years and you didn't turn out so bad."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence Dean!"

"Anytime little brother."

Sam smiled before cautiously approaching Dean and the baby. The tiny child was staring up at his older brother in fascination, his pudgy hand reaching out for Dean in an attempt to make the man hold him closer, but his expression was completely blank…typical angel!

"Does he look familiar to you?" Sam stared at the child, his face tilted in concentration.

There was definitely something…familiar.

"Uh, no, not really. I don't know any babies." The tiny child in his hands gurgled and Dean held him further away from his body.

"I don't think your holding him right, aren't you meant to support his neck or something." Dean pulled the baby closer to his chest, still wary that it might bite him or do something equally unpleasant…like puke on his jacket.

"Well, I guess that's better, but take a closer look at his eyes." Dean did so, peering at the baby's face for a moment and smirking when the child made a soft gurgling sound and blew bubbles of spit.

"Uh, what about them?"

"They're blue!"

"Yeah, and...oh no way. You don't think?"

"I do."

"Son of a –"

"Dude!"

"What?"

"You can't swear in front of a baby!"

"It's not a baby, it's an angel! Hell, it's Cas!"

"It, is a he and he, well Castiel, is a baby angel, which makes it even worse to swear in front of him. You know how up tight he is about that sort of thing!"

"He's always uptight about everything!"

"But he's a baby now, he's all cute and innocent- god I never thought I'd say that. Aww, look at him…he's smiling."

"I don't think that's a smile, it's more of a wicked, I'm gonna make your life hell smirk."

"He's a baby, not some evil plotting dick with wings."

"Well, he'll grow into one. Well, apart from the evil part."

"C'mon."

"C'mon what?"

"It's Castiel. He's the least dickish of all of them, at least he means well"

"Only you could come up with that logic Sammy."

"Yeah, cos I'm the one with all of the brains."

"B-"

"DEAN!"

"Fine, jerk."

"That's my word!"

"Well I need something to insult you with."

"Hmmm. What are we going to do with him?"

"Dunno. Put him up for adoption?" Castiel's tiny face screwed up with tears and he let out a sudden high pitched wail.

It wasn't dissimilar to the noise he had made in his true form at that shop or in the motel room.

"Shh, Cas, don't…shhhhhh, please!"

"Dean! Oh now look, you made him cry!" Sam sighed and sank down onto his bed, opening his laptop to do some research into how to look after a baby. It wasn’t as if either of them had a lot of experience – they were so not qualified for this sort of thing. Knowing their luck they would accidentally kill Castiel by giving him the wrong food, or something equally stupid.

Cas’ sobs increased in pitch, making Sam wince. But he was so not going to deal with it. Dean had made Castiel cry, so Dean could deal with it.

"Did not! Hey buddy, I didn't mean it, I promise I won't trade you in!" Castiel continued to sob, flailing his tiny arms and eventually reducing himself to tiny sniffles when no more tears would come.

Dean gave Sam a desperate look, silently asking him what to do.

"Don't look at me."

Dean sighed and thought back to how his mother always used to comfort him when he was little. He couldn't remember much but knew that she would often sing to him and cuddle him, rocking him slightly. So Dean decided to do the same.

After four Metallica songs Castiel had stopped whimpering and was now looking straight at Dean with his mouth open in an awestruck 'O.'

Dean had to admit that he looked damned cute, his huge blue eyes and long dark eyelashes standing out against his milk white skin.

To be honest, the baby version of Cas was perfect.

Dean pulled him a little closer and cuddled Castiel close, allowing Cas to rest his head on his shoulder and nuzzling his nose into the babies mess of near-black hair. He smelt fresh, like passion fruit shampoo with a hint of something else…vanilla?

"Don't ever repeat this, but you're kinda cute like this." Castiel's toothless mouth split into a smile and he let out a gurgle of pleasure at the complement, his pudgy hand reaching out and grasping at Dean's face.

"Woah, easy there man, personal space." The baby cooed and blew more bubbles, but he didn’t relinquish his grip on Dean's chin.

"Yeah, yeah, real cute. I get it!"

After a while of Dean standing awkwardly without a clue what to do, Cas closed his eyes and began to doze in Dean's arms.

At least that made his life easier.

Dean walked into the sectioned off twin bedroom and placed the baby down in amongst the pillows on his bed before turning his attention to Sam in the mini lounge area.

"Who said I am bad with kids…I'm a pro!"

"Hmm, right. I've found a great website."

"Busty Asian Beauties?" Dean looked up hopefully and sank onto the sofa next to Sam.

"No Dean, try to use your upstairs brain for once. It's called 'How to Look after a Baby-For Dummies.'"

"Speak for yourself."

"Who's the one who went to college?"

"Whatever, geekboy…what does it say?"

"There are five top tips about how to look after a six month old baby."

"How do you know how old he is?"

"By how tall he is, but then again, he's quite skinny, apart from his hands, so he could be younger than that."

"I guess you're probably right. He's always been as thin as a rake…know it all."

"Well, the first instruction is to never leave a baby out of your sight." Dean bit his lip and headed back into the bedroom, scooping Castiel back up in his arms before slumping on the sofa again.

Well, that was easy enough.

"Right, it also says that you need to feed your baby 1 teaspoon to half a cup of fruit in 2-3 feedings, 1 teaspoon of vegetables to half a cup in 2-3 feedings as well as 3 to 9 tablespoons of cereal, in 2 or 3 feedings."

"So basically, a load of bland tasteless crap two to three times a day."

Sam didn't bother picking up on the swearing, Cas was asleep and he knew Dean would never fully quit the habit.

"Well, that's one way of putting it. I've written it all down on a shopping list with some recommended types of baby food. We should also get some formula milk, just in case he is younger than we think."

"Great, that sounds expensive. How much do you think we'll need?" Dean looked down at Cas in resignation as the tiny child began to wriggle in his sleep and made soft gurgling noises.

Knowing Dean's luck he was probably waking up again.

"No idea, how long do you think it will take Gabriel to come back and sort him out."

"Uh, a few days?"

"Hopefully. What else does the laptop say?"

"Well, the website also says that you have to give your babies lots of love and cuddles, skin to skin contact is very important to encourage love and trust, as well as helping children develop well so they are social later in life."

"Cas, social. Now that would be a sight for sore eyes."

Sam chuckled softly.

"You should bathe your baby twice a week…"

"Well that can be your job later, Samantha."

"No way."

"Yeah way, you're the soccer mummy; I'm the cool uncle or something…"

"We'll see about that."

"So what's step number five?"

"Regularly check diapers to see if they are soiled and change them as soon as possible after wees or poos to avoid nappy rash and urinary tract infections."

"That is defiantly your job. Now, if you're done with your pearls of wisdom, I'm gonna head out and buy some stuff, you can bathe cuddles here."

"Fine."

Dean gently eased Cas away from his chest, groaning when he saw the patch of drool on his shirt.

"Ugh, that's gross!"

Sam snorted with laugher and reached out to take Castiel, but as soon as the tiny baby was in his arms, Cas woke fully and began to scream, kicking and flailing wildly with tears pouring down his face.

"Dude, tell me you didn't drop him." Dean turned around from his duffel to check that Cas wasn't flattened on the ground, but to his amusement a wild-puppy-dog-eyed Sam was desperately rocking Cas back and forth, stroking a hand through his hair in an attempt to stop the baby from crying.

It wasn't working.

"Dean, what do I do? I don't understand."

"Hah, looks like your maternal hormones are failing ya."

"Well that makes you Mum after all." Dean groaned.

Sam smirked to try and hide the hurt that he was feeling.

He knew that Cas and Dean shared a profound bond and all that, and that Cas didn't think much of him after the demon blood thing…but still. It did hurt a little.

He passed Cas back to Dean and wandered over to the kitchenette to grab a beer, noting how the crying stopped immediately.

"Have fun shopping."

"Thanks a bunch."

Dean looked down at the baby and sighed.

"Looks like were going shopping, angel cakes."

Cas mumbled something unintelligible and settled down in Dean's arms, still wrapped up in the blankets.

And damn, even Dean couldn't lie; Cas was adorable as a baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think :D You know what to do!


	2. Chapter 2

Dean pulled up in the Wal-mart car park and looked down at his lap, where Cas was lying face up, staring straight at him.

Yeah, it was probably the most unsafe way to transport a baby, but it did the trick and they had both survived the journey… a fact which Dean took to be a major victory.

"C'mon titch, lets get you some clothes."

Cas beamed at Dean toothlessly and let out a small noise which sounded something like "de!" But it was probably a coincidence. There was no way that at six months, Cas could know Dean's name.

But then again…he was an angel, which made everything doubly confusing.

"Hmmm, nothing is ever simple with you, is it Cas?"

Cas blew another raspberry with his spit.

"Dude, angel or not, that’s gross."

Dean scooped Cas up, grabbed his keys and opened the door of the Impala, cradling Cas in one arm and striding into the superstore with far more confidence than he really felt.

Glancing quickly at the shopping list Sam had drawn up, it was clear that he had to go to the baby aisle.

The only problem was, he had never been to that part of a store before, which is why it took him five minutes of searching to find said aisle. He had even managed to get lost in the freakin vegetable aisle…which was a frightening experience for Dean, as after years of living off diner food, he didn't have a clue what anything was.

Finally escaping the vegetables into the fruit aisle…where he felt slightly more comfortable after sampling every flavor of pie out there, Dean let out an audible gasp of relief before continuing his baby-aisle-tracking.

And then he found it.

And the other one…in fact, he found all five aisles of baby crap.

Dean took a deep breath to prepare himself.

"Well, this should be easy."

Dean was sure that Cas giggled at him.

"Shuddup chuckles. Right, first thing's first, diapers."

Cas let out an undignified shriek.

Dean ignored it and stared at the countless shelves of diapers in various bright colors.

Not having a clue which pack was right, he went for the easy option and grabbed the pack closest to him, which happened to be blue with a picture of a cute kid beaming cheesily.

Dean shuddered. Who'd have thought it, Dean Winchester, seasoned hunter, on a mission to buy baby supplies?!

For a moment Dean debated picking a different, more expensive pack – surely the more the diapers cost, the better they would be - but he didn't want to waste his hard earned cash on supplies for a baby who wouldn't be a baby for long.

Hopefully.

And besides, how much difference could there be between the various brands? They are all designed to catch pee after all, right?

Then he grabbed some nappy rash cream and baby wipes before heading to the checkout, paying for the items and heading to the baby change bathroom.

He could do the rest of the shopping after a quick change, the last thing he needed was Cas to have an accident in his blanket.

"Right, I swear if you pee on me I'll drop you."

Cas' lip wobbled as he threatened to cry again.

"Hey, just kidding."

Dean unwrapped Cas and took hold of Cas' stick-thin ankles, holding them together to expose Cas fully.

"Well, this aint at all awkward…"

He was quite aware of the fact that he had gone redder than the angel…this was so humiliating…give him a vamp or a werewolf any day!

Dean then grabbed one of the baby wipes and quickly wiped it over Cas' tiny bottom, spreading his cheeks slightly so he could wipe everywhere before wrapping a diaper around his tiny waist.

The only problem was it was far too big for the tiny child, Cas was practically skin and bones.

It turned out that they weren't all the same…and he had definitely not picked a suitable pack.

With a sigh he fastened up the too big diaper and carried Cas back to the diaper aisle, grabbing another pack of diapers labeled small and shoved them in an empty trolley.

Feeling rather pleased with himself for getting the hang of this baby thing, Dean placed Cas in the child seat of the trolley as well.

"Sooo, how about some clothes, Chewbacca?"

Dean got no form of reply; Cas was fast asleep, again!

But at least that meant that Dean had free reign over the choice of clothing, and damn it, he was going to have some fun for once.

Soon he had selected ten pairs of tiny socks, two pairs of shoes, one for inside one for outside, and a selection of onesies with different catchphrases.

Dean smirked down at his choices. This was definitely one of the few plus sides of looking after a baby Cas!

He knew the angel would not approve of his choices if he could read:

Little angel.  
Keep calm and cuddle me!   
Don't annoy me, I bite!   
Future heartbreaker, lock up your daughters!   
Been inside for 9 months…out on parole.   
I'm cute; I get it…NOW PUT ME DOWN!   
It wasn't me!   
Devil's child.   
Blame the one carrying me!

And now that Dean had enjoyed his fun, it was time to move onto more important things…like food.

Dean picked up around thirty different jars of baby food, he didn't know what to pick so grabbed a couple of everything, and then some boxes of formula milk and baby cereal.

"You, Dean Winchester are a genius." Dean congratulated himself out loud, this baby malarkey was easy as pie…but pie tasted better.

A passing woman looked up and smiled at him, cuddling twin babies, one in each arm.

"Your first time shopping for the little guy?"

"Yeah, who'd have known a baby needs so much rubbish!"

"Well, trust me, it is quite an achievement to complete your first shop in one piece, you look as if you are doing well."

The woman laughed, grabbed a couple of jars and headed off.

It was clear that at least she knew what she was doing.

Dean glanced back down at the shopping list and began to find the rest of the things he needed, choosing the cheapest options possible.

He picked out a baby car carrier, a sling, some baby shampoo and soap, a collapsible cot and was about to choose some toys and a pacifier when Cas woke up in the trolley and began to cry at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, what's wrong? You hungry?" Dean grabbed a jar of baby food and fingered some gunk out of it, offering it to the baby.

Cas just stared at him, his piercing blue eyes staring into Dean's soul as his face screwed up further and he continued to wail.

It looked as if Cas thought the gunk was as gross as Dean did.

Deciding he was facing a loosing battle Dean picked Cas up and out of the trolley, beginning to rock him.

"What d'ya want? C'mon man."

"Please Cas, shhhh, what's wrong?"

Dean turned when he felt a hand on his back.

For a moment he assumed it was the woman from earlier about to offer him some advice on calming down screaming babies, but then he saw that it was a tall, skinny man in a plaid shirt.

Dean was momentarily confused before he noticed that the man had pure black eyes.

He wasn't a man after all; he was a demon…in a Wal-mart.

What was the world coming to?!

It seemed like even as a baby, Cas had some sort of demon radar, he had sensed danger and Dean had been too busy eyeing up a pink fluffy bunny rabbit to notice.

Dean snapped back to reality when he saw a flash of silver.

In a split second he reacted, lashing out at the demon with his legs whilst using his arms to hold Cas and shield his petite body from harm.

Of course, that left his arms busy and unable to protect all of Cas' body, let alone his own.

Dean cried out in agony as the demon's blade sank into his upper torso, and a then a howl of anger when the angle of the knife meant that the demon also managed to catch Cas' flailing right arm.

The angel let out another ear piercing cry as the blade tore a deep gash into his skin.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH."

Furious, Dean kicked the demon in the chest, sending him flying into an aisle of stuffed toys.

The demon was caught under a cascade of teddy bears, dolls and action figures, giving Dean just enough time to place Cas in the shopping trolley, grab the demon's discarded knife off the floor and to bend down so that it was pressed up against the man's throat.

"Get up you sick son of a bitch."

The demon rose to his feet with the blade still pressed against his throat.

But despite this, he snarled.

He had completed his task, he had located Castiel. It didn't matter what happened to him now, there were plenty more where he came from.

It was all for the greater good.

Dean made a quick slashing movement, creating a shallow cut on the demon's neck as a warning. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt his baby angel.

The demon took a step backwards, treading on the squeaker of a toy, which let out a sound not dissimilar to that of a rat being squished.

Dean smirked, knowing he had the upper hand and the crowd of onlookers let out a collective gasp of surprise and relief.

They had not expected Dean to gain the upper hand over that lunatic.

For a moment the demon's eyes flashed black, before it turned to leave, walking swiftly through the crowd – none of whom stood up to stop him. They were all to scared for their own lives to do anything useful.

Dean sighed before letting his arm fall to his side, knife still clutched loosely in his grip.

He couldn't exactly exorcize a demon in the middle of a superstore, or slit some random guy's throat, but he wasn't going to leave himself totally defenseless.

Once the demon had walked out the door, Dean took a moment to glance down at the gash on his torso.

It wasn't too bad, but Cas' arm on the other hand…Dean noted that it was deep when he saw that blood was dripping through the holes in the trolley and onto the floor.

Cas whimpered softly as Dean lifted him out of the cart and kissed his forehead before grabbing one of the onesies from the shopping trolley and wrapping it around the baby's arm.

Dean knew it would hurt Cas to put pressure on the wound, but he needed to stop the bleeding.

Cas let out a high pitched squeak of indignation and pain, despite Dean doing his best to be gentle.

A couple of onlookers decided that they were happy to help, now that there was no danger…

"Oh my goodness sir, are you alright? Is your baby ok?"

Dean looked up to see the woman from earlier, at least it was finally her this time!

"Uh, I-I think he needs stitches."

He grabbed the trolley and began to head to the counter to pay so that he could get Cas to a hospital, quickly.

He wasn't gonna start stitching up a baby.

Stitching up himself or Sam was one thing, but a baby…no, he didn't want to hurt the little angel. And besides, he wanted to get out of the store like yesterday.

He could buy toys and a pacifier later…and definitely not from a Wal-mart.

After a few paces the store manager, who had been alerted about the uproar, hurried over to Dean.

"Sir, that's all on the company; I am so sorry that this happened on my premises. Do you want me to call an ambulance for your little guy?" Dean declined the offer, stating that they would be fine before jogging to the Impala with the trolley and chucking everything into the trunk.

He then spent a minute setting up the booster seat, placing Cas into it and driving as fast as he could to the hospital…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what I think, feedback is my air <3


	3. Chapter 3

Dean sat anxiously in the waiting room, rocking Cas back and forth and keeping up the pressure on his tiny arm as the blue-eyed baby sniffled miserably and cried into his jacket.

"Yeah, yeah. I hate hospitals too little man, I know this sucks, but I'll get you outta here ASAP, I promise."

Dean knew he was being stupid, talking to a baby, but at least it was making him feel a bit better.

"I'm going mad, talking to you. Well, madder than usual. Anyway, I'm gonna give Sammy a quick call, let him know where we're at."

Cas gave an almost imperceptible nod and sniffed loudly.

A couple of people in the waiting room looked up and gave Dean a sympathetic smile, although one old couple were staring at him angrily, as if he were some child molester who had gone and hurt a baby.

If Dean wasn't so worked up, he would have loaded their asses with rock salt, elderly or not!

Sighing he grabbed one of his mobiles from his pocket and dialed Sam's number.

After three rings, his baby brother picked up. And he sounded pissed!

"Dean, where in god's name are you, it's been hours!"

"Hospital."

"What, why, are you ok man?" The anger in Sam's voice was immediately replaced with fear and worry. He never had been able to hide his emotions…that was more Dean's forte.

"Yeah, I'm peachy, it's Cas, his arm got cut pretty bad."

"How? Are you ok?"

"I’m fine, son of a bitch got my chest but its clotted up fine, I don’t need stitches or anything." Dean was about to elaborate when a nurse turned up.

"Sorry, gotta go, but seriously, it was like the guy was possessed. He really lashed out!" Dean hoped that Sam would understand.

"A demon got him?"

"Yeah, back in a couple of hours."

"Shit, ok, make sure you keep an eye out for the little guy."

"Of course I will. Seya later, Sammy."

Dean hung up the phone and looked up at the nurse, standing so that he was ready to get moving. Cas' arm was still oozing blood and he was incredibly pale.

"Mr…"

"Sanderson. But you can call me Dean."

"Ok Dean, I'm Hannah. Who's this charming young sweetheart?" She smiled and made a stupid face at Cas, who tilted his head in confusion instead of smiling back at her.

"He's called Castiel…Cas. Look, we've been waiting ages, can you…"

"Of course. If you want to give me Castiel, our pediatrics doctor is all ready and waiting. And in the meantime, you can get your chest seen to."

"Nah, I'm fine. It's not deep, I'll be good, but Cas…He needs help, fast."

"Are you sure sir?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you'd just like to follow me…" The nurse didn't sound convinced, but she had to put her priorities in order. It defiantly looked as if Cas was the worst for wear.

"Awesome."

Dean began to follow Hannah, bouncing Cas lightly in his arms and entering the room which the young nurse beckoned to.

"Hello sir."

The doctor, who had been sitting down at his computer, stood up and shook Dean's hand.

"Hi, I'm Martin, and this little guy must be Castiel. Can I take a look at him?"

"Sure." Dean handed the baby over and smiled in relief when Cas didn't put up a fuss. Well, other than whimpering softly and beginning to suck on his balled fist in distress.

"Who's being a good little boy? You are! Who's being a little angel for the doctor? Good boy, let me take a little looksie at that arm of yours. Well, it's still there little guy." The doc spoke in a ridiculously high pitched voice, drawing Cas' full attention whilst he quickly checked over the cut in his arm.

Once satisfied that he knew how deep the wound was, Martin handed Cas back to Dean, running his hand through his thinning, gray hair.

"So, what's the verdict?"

"Your little boy will be fine, but he needs about six stitches. The cut is about half an inch deep, the little guy really must be smarting. He's being good as gold though, usually kids his age would be screaming." The doc smiled and whispered to Cas, "you're as cute as a button, aren't you."

Cas flinched away and buried himself further into Dean's arms.

"Six? Is there no other way? He's only tiny."

"No, I'm sorry, but I can promise you that it won't hurt him, I'll give him some local anesthetic and you can be with him the whole time."

Dean nodded in resignation and watched as the doctor stood, called a nurse for supplies, washed his hands, pulled on clean, blue scrubs, washed his hands again and then snapped on a pair of gloves.

Cas began to cry at the noise and grasped at Dean, kicking frantically. Dean winced as a tiny leg caught him between the ribs. The little guy sure packed a punch!

"Sir, if you could please hold little Castiel still whilst I apply a topical anesthetic to the injection site. This will numb the skin before I give him the injection, I don't want to cause the little guy any more pain, but I need him to be still."

"Sure." Dean did as he was asked, tightening his grip on Cas as the doctor did his stuff and picked up a syringe.

Castiel let out a whimper of fright at the sight of the needle and began to kick and wail even louder, screaming at the top of his lungs and screwing up his face in fear.

"Sir, could you straddle Castiel on your lap for me, so he is facing you. That way he may feel calmer." Dean did so, rubbing Castiel's back soothingly as the little angel made a cooing noise of protest and gripped at Dean with all his might…which was not much.

Martin smiled and continued with the job at hand, ignoring Cas' cries as he inserted the needle into one of Castiel's more prominent veins. Castiel wailed in fright, crying inconsolably no matter how much Dean rocked him or hummed.

Dean waited for a lull in the crying before shushing Cas, giving him a little kiss on the forehead and glaring at the doctor pointedly.

"Hey, I thought you said he wouldn't feel it!" Dean tried to keep the anger out of his voice, but the words still came out through clenched teeth and he found himself shaking slightly.

"I can assure you sir, he didn't feel anything. The poor little guy is just frightened. I need you to do whatever it takes to calm him down, I can't have him moving whilst I stitch him up and I really don't want to fully put him under."

"Are you sure? He's really bawling his eyes out. Cas isn't usually the crying type"

"I'm sure. Injections can be very stressful for young children. Do you have a pacifier that he can suckle on?"

"No, I didn't get a chance to buy one; I was about to when…when Cas was hurt."

"I'm pretty sure I have a new pack of them somewhere…" Martin rustled around in a drawer, finally locating a packet containing a brand new pacifier, which he handed to Dean.

"Cheers." Dean undid the wrapping and pressed the pacifier into Cas' mouth. The angel stared up at him in confusion, trying to spit the intrusion out, but Dean used a finger to keep it in.

"You're supposed to suck on it, chuckles." Cas glared at him but began to suck the pacifier, seemingly calming down a little.

Dean grinned, wishing he had his camera, and began to hum Hey Jude, rocking Cas softly until the doctor coughed pointedly.

He was ready and waiting.

"Right, you may want to look away as I do this, many parents find it quite distressing."

Dean shook his head and watched as the doctor picked up the curved needle and surgical thread.

"Don't worry bout me, I'm made of stronger stuff." The doctor raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

Dean was confident that his statement was true. He was a hunter…he was a Winchester, and Winchesters are not squeamish. They suck it up and deal with the situation head on.

Cas took it well as the needle first entered his flesh. He didn't flinch or move a muscle, his arm was completely numb.

But Dean on the other hand, felt sick to his stomach.

By his third stitch, Cas had fallen fast asleep, but Dean was far from relaxed.

In fact, he had to excuse himself, placing Cas on his seat before grabbing a waste paper basket and puking up the entire contents of his stomach.

He really regretted the second helping of pie that he had for breakfast.

The doctor gave him a sympathetic look and gave Dean a gentle pat on the back as he began to dry heave and gag.

"Shit, sorry man…"

"S'alright. It looks like you hate paperwork as much as I do."

Martin laughed at his own wit before pouring Dean a cup of water and waiting for him to down it and wipe his mouth on the back of his sleeve.

"I never usually…I'm not a girl or anything…"

"I know, I've seen burlier men than you bursting into tears at the sight of their child in distress. It is a perfectly normal reaction, respectable really. It is clear that you love the kid."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Are you ready to carry on now?"

"Yeah, sure." Dean lifted Cas up again, thankful that the baby was still out of it from a combination of tiredness and meds.

"Ready?"

"Ready." The doctor, who had changed his gloves again, picked his needle and thread up and started the fourth stitch, watching in concern as Dean flinched at his stomach doing back-flips.

"Sir, if you want to leave the room, I can call a nurse to hold Castiel."

"Uh, yeah, thanks."

Martin grabbed his phone and rang the nurse station, standing up when a couple of nurses entered the room.

"Hey Daisy, could you take Dean here to the waiting room, and Miriam, could you hold Castiel for me whilst I finish his arm."

Both nurses nodded, Miriam taking Cas from Dean's arms before Daisy offered Dean a hand to his feet.

He looked as if he was about to…

"Shit."

Daisy watched helplessly as Dean collapsed bonelessly to the floor, his legs buckling beneath him and his limbs sprawling out in all directions.

"Hello, Mr Sanderson, can you hear me?"

Daisy patted Dean's cheek gently until Dean let out a low groan.

"W-what?"

"Sir, you just fainted, no, don't move…sir!"

Dean ignored her warnings and headed out of the door as quickly as he could. He couldn't bear to be in the room any longer, he was seeing red…literally. The floor was covered in specs of blood; it was like something from a horror movie.

"I'm fine. Just sort out Cas."

The nurse nodded and guided Dean to the waiting room, where he sank into a chair with his head in his hands and waited.

A male nurse came over and gave him a cup of strong coffee and another patient kept smiling at him reassuringly, but Dean didn't feel any better.

Time seemed to drag on forever, and it felt like he had been waiting for hours when a pair of footsteps finally approached him.

"Mr Sanderson, your son is ready to go." The doctor handed a sleeping Castiel back to Dean, who cuddled him close, filled out a load of paperwork with fake credit card details, thanked Martin and practically ran out of the hospital.

…

"Hey Dean, hello munchkin." Sam beamed at his brother and Cas when they entered the motel room.

"Ugh…that was hell."

"Dude, you look like shit. In fact, you look worse than Cas, at least he is bandaged up! And you're covered in blood; you look like an extra from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

"Tell me about it. I got some weird looks driving home!"

Cas squirmed in his arms, beginning to coo sadly around the pacifier.

"I bet you're hungry, huh?"

Cas gurgled.

"Sammy, can you chuck over a jar of baby food?"

"Yeah, sure."

Sam chose a jar of apple sauce and watched as Dean tried and failed to persuade Cas to eat it.

"C'mon little guy, just eat a little bit…for me!" Cas bawled louder.

"Shhhh! Sam, try making that formula milk."

"What am I, your servant?"

"No, you're my bitch, bitch."

Dean smirked as Sam stared at the instructions for around ten minutes before finally handing Dean a bottle of milk.

"Here you go buttercup, drink up!"

Cas suckled happily at the bottle, his cheeks hollowing out around the tip as he practically inhaled the milk.

"Slow down kiddo, you're gonna make yourself sick."

Cas didn't slow down, finishing the bottle in minutes before letting out a tiny hiccup and promptly falling asleep.

"Awesome, I'm gonna grab a shower."

Dean thrust Cas into Sam's arms and hurried into the bathroom before Sam could so much as protest.

"DEAN! You can't leave me with him! He hates me!" Sam pounded at the door, waking Cas up again.

Which led to a resumed bout of crying.

"DEAN! Please!"

"Deal with it Sammy, I'm naked!"

"Ugh, I didn't need to know that."

"Prude! You're just jealous of my muscular frame!"

"I hate you!"

Sam stared down at the wailing child in his arms and groaned.

He just hoped Dean would hurry up in there!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think, comments are my life <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think <3 Comments are love xxx

A very, very long five minutes had past and Cas was still wailing at the top of his lungs - despite Sam's best efforts to comfort him.

The youngest Winchester had tried everything, and by everything, he literally meant everything.

At first he had attempted to cuddle Castiel, which had culminated in him obtaining a bloody nose and what he suspected to a black eye. Cas may have been tiny, but the little guy could sure kick with a vengeance, a fact that Sam had mentally cursed for a few moments.

"Ow, Cas, not cool man. You're an angel; I thought harming others was a sin or something? Y'know, do to others what you would have them do to you and all that?" Cas continued to flail, tears streaming down his cheeks as he hiccupped and made tiny gagging noises.

"Shhh, come on little guy…shhhhhhh!"

Cas did not shhh. In fact, he screamed until his throat was raw, which just made him even more miserable.

"Dean! Please Dean, you've gotta help me out here."

"NO CAN DO SAMMY, JUST LATHERING UP IN HERE!"

Sam grimaced at the thought of Dean rubbing soap all over his body and decided to move on to plan B instead.

He had read somewhere that soft, swaying motions could help a baby relax, so he decided that rocking Cas back and forth might calm him down a bit.

And this was why he was now covered in baby upchuck.

"Gross, that is seriously gross Cas. What have I done to deserve this?"

For the briefest moment Cas gave a tiny smile…which soon disintegrated into a pout and frown of disgust at the bitter taste in his mouth.

"God I can't wait for Gabriel to show up!" Cas frowned a little and looked around, his bright blue eyes searching for his brother.

"No, Cas, he isn't here now. He can probably hear you crying from heaven, if I were him I wouldn't come down either!" Sam immediately regretted his harsh words, what kind of jerk said that to a baby?!

Cas stopped crying and stared up at Sam with so much sorrow that the youngest hunter felt his heart begin to split.

"I'm sorry Cas, I didn't mean it like that. Don't worry, Gabe will be here soon, I promise."

Cas sniffled and buried his face into Sam's plaid shirt, tears soaking through the thin material.

Sam shifted a little and altered Cas' position, placing one hand under his tiny bottom and one against Cas' back so that Cas could lean against his chest fully.

He gave a small smile when the angel tucked his head against Sam's collar bone and relaxed into his hold.

He didn't have a clue how, but somehow he had managed to calm Cas down.

Or perhaps he had made the little guy so upset that he was willing to take whatever comfort he could get, from anyone, including Sam.

"There we are, it's all ok now, we're gonna make it all better, we'll sort you out, me and Dean. I promise." Sam began to card a hand through the shock of black hair on Cas' head and smiled at how smooth it was. It was like petting a kitten, minus the claws.

"We'll find Gabriel for you, and we'll look after you until we do."

Cas cooed softly and lifted his un-bandaged arm up, unclenching his fist and tangling his fingers in Sam's long hair.

"Huh, I'm glad you like it more than Dean does! He always tells me to get a haircut, but if an angel of the Lord approves…"

Cas giggled softly and tugged at Sam's hair, tangling it in his grasp and beaming when Sam gently stroked his pudgy cheeks and tickled under his chin.

"You like that little guy?" Cas babbled nonsense, only stopping when Sam placed a finger too close to his mouth. Cas grabbed said finger and moved it to his mouth, beginning to suckle on it softly.

In next to no time he was chewing Sam's finger with his baby-pink gums and was periodically suckling on it.

Sam smiled, he may be covered in slobber, but it was a definite improvement on vomit and tears.

"Well if that aint cute, nothing is." Sam beamed at the baby, an overwhelming feeling of pride coming over him.

He had finally managed to please Castiel and stop him from crying.

It was a feat that he wouldn't have thought possible ten minutes ago.

And for that, he owed himself a beer…later, when Cas was asleep.

…

When a fully washed and shaved Dean came out of the bathroom wrapped in a stiff towel, he had to blink a few times, just to make sure he was really seeing what he was seeing.

Because surely…no…yep, he was seeing right…Sam and Cas were both fast asleep on the sofa, Cas' tiny body rising and falling with each one of Sam's deep breaths.

They looked so damned adorable that Dean didn't feel bad for one moment as he whipped out his phone and took four pictures from different angles.

Those snapshots would be great leverage for another day. They were better than those photos taken during The Spoon Incident!

With a smirk Dean dressed himself in a pair of boxers and jeans before wandering over to the pile of shopping which he had dumped onto the motel bed.

His next task: set up a baby cot.

How hard could it be?

Dean answered his rhetorical question ten minutes later. Setting up a cot could be very hard indeed.

The instructions might as well have been written in Enochian for all they were worth. He couldn't decipher the pictures (or hieroglyphs) and in the end decided that he would make it up as he went along.

He had been able to assemble a gun since the age of ten; this should have been a piece of cake.

And this free-styled approach was why Dean was now standing in front of the wonkiest cot known to mankind.

He had to hold back a snort of laughter.

"Sod it, it'll do." Dean managed to convince himself that the cot wouldn't collapse when he put Cas in it and began to fill it with one of the pillows from his bed and a baby blanket he had bought at Wal-mart.

All dressed up, the cot didn't look quite as bad, and Dean was sure that by the time he had purchased some cuddly toys for Cas, it would be a pretty awesome place for a baby angel to sleep.

Speaking of which, he was exhausted.

Dean wandered over to Sam and carefully scooped Cas up into his own arms, carrying him over to the cot.

Cas whimpered a little at the loss of Sam's body heat, but didn't wake.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Cas?"

"He's in the cot, don't worry."

"Good…" Sam closed his eyes again.

"Hey, if I were you I'd get into bed, you'll be stiff as hell if you sleep on that!"

"M'tired."

"Well I am to. Plus, I don't want to listen to you winging about having a bad back tomorrow, so shift your ass!"

"Nah…"

"I aint carrying you to bed!"

"Jerk, you carried Cas."

"Yeah, well Cas aint being a bitch."

Sam scowled when Dean threw a pillow at him, but rose all the same and slid into his own bed.

Dean smirked and practically collapsed on top of his duvet.

He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

Dean grimaced when at four in the morning; he was woken by the sound of Castiel whimpering in his cot.

He rolled over and blearily ran a hand through his short hair before swinging his legs out of bed and fumbling for the light switch. He just wanted to get some sleep, was it too much to ask?

Finally locating said button, he stood and wandered over to the cot beside his bed, sliding one hand under Cas' neck and one under his back so he could scoop the baby angel out.

His chubby face was bright red and streaked with tear-tracks, a sight which melted away Dean's tiredness, and half of his masculine indifference to cuteness.

"Hey Cas, what's wrong dude, c'mon, you know I need my beauty sleep, how do you think I stay this handsome?" Dean chuckled softly as Cas stopped crying for a moment to stare up at him. His head was tilted in an all too familiar fashion.

"There we are, that's better, isn't it?" Dean stroked Castiel's hair and carried him over to the kitchenette, rocking his tiny form back and forth as he mixed up a load of foul-smelling powder and hot water.

Dean stared at the resulting, lumpy liquid and decided to shake the lumps away, remembering Sam shaking up his salad and looking like an idiot. But Dean was sure that he was pulling off the move.

Shake it up baby, you shake it up.

Dean smirked at the memory and continued shaking the mixture until there were no lumps left. This method was certainly effective, even if it wasn't recommended.

Patience seemed to leave Cas and he let out a tiny gurgle, reaching out his good arm towards the bottle, opening his mouth into an 'O' and sucking at the air hungrily.

"Ok, easy little guy. You sure are hungry…Sam calls me a pig, just wait till he sees you in the middle of the night!" Cas ignored this remark, cooing and squirming until Dean placed the nipple of the bottle into his mouth.

Cas drank deeply, fisting Dean's T-shirt and trying to pull the bottle closer so he could drink more.

"You're a hungry little angel, huh?" Cas blinked at Dean before finishing the bottle and yawning widely.

"Was that it? You woke me up for ten minutes of attention?" Cas sniffled and began to moan, his eyes sliding half shut.

Dean was about to pull Cas into a cuddle, resting him in the crook of his arms, but then he noticed the smell…which was a lot worse than the powdered milk stuff.

"Looks like you need a change." Cas squirmed and reached out a hand towards his cot.

"Nope, can't have you stinking up the motel room, think about my deposit." Cas blinked as Dean carried him into the bathroom, flinching when Dean flipped on the harsh, bright white light.

Dean smirked when Cas screwed up his eyes in distaste and rubbed at his eyes with tiny, balled up fists.

"Grin and bear it dude, it's not as bad as what I'm about to do!"

Dean tried to make light of the situation, but to be honest the last thing he wanted to do was poke around at Cas' crown jewels.

"Not so angelic now are ya? Legs wide open…" Dean held back a laugh at the scowl on Cas' face as he undid Castiel's full diaper and held his legs apart for better access.

Cas kicked frantically and began to cry, but eventually let Dean do what he had to.

"There, there, stop winging at me, you're all done." Cas didn't stop scowling and avoided Dean's eyes, but at least he stopped kicking in favor of reaching out for his feet and playing with his toes.

"Right, back to bed for you."

Dean tucked Cas in and slid back into his own bed, he was at least going to attempt to get another couple of hours sleep.

But Cas had other ideas.

As soon as Dean turned out the lights he began to cry.

"D'n? W'sh wrong with Cas?"

"Nothing Sammy, go back to sleep." Dean turned the light back on and watched as Sam rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head.

"K."

Dean relaxed as Cas stopped crying for no apparent reason and turned the light off, closing his eyes to try and get some sleep.

Cas started crying again.

Dean turned on the light.

Cas stopped crying.

What the hell is this, a freaking cartoon?! Gimme a damn break! Dean scowled and got out of bed again, kissing Cas gently on the forehead before settling down.

"Just go to sleep little man, I got you."

Then he turned the light off.

Cas screamed…properly, as in, my lungs are gonna be red raw by the time I'm done, screaming.

Cursing under his breath, Dean once again turned the light on.

"D'n, stop the d'sco, d'nt wanna d'nce…tired!" Dean laughed at his brother, who was still way out of it, and looked at Cas.

"You afraid of the dark Cas? Really? C'mon, give me a break, you're an angel of the lord, shouldn't you be busy worrying about demons or something?"

Cas squeaked, but didn't start wailing again.

"Fine, looks like the light stays on then. Just get some sleep. I've got you, you're safe now, from whatever it is that shrunk you." Cas cooed in response and curled up into a tighter ball, still clutching at his toes.

Dean pulled the covers over his head in an attempt to block out the light, and swiftly fell asleep.

This time, he wasn't woken up until 9.

"Dean, Dean! Get up." Dean scowled and launched a pillow at Sam, who dodged it easily.

"Hey, watch it, I'm carrying Cas!"

"Well, at least he likes you now."

"Yeah…what was with all the flashing lights last night by the way?"

"Cas is afraid of the dark."

"Well, that's helpful. Why?"

"Maybe whatever shrunk him left him in the dark or something." Sam looked at him skeptically.

"What, I don't know, I don't speak baby!"

"That's debatable, Dean."

"Bitch."

"Jerk…and again with the swearing."

"Again with the…whatever, I'm tired, I was on baby duty last night. I swear you're changing his nappy next."

"B-"

"No buts. Anyway, lets get breakfast; we have to check out today, right?"

"Yeah, where we gonna go? It's not as if we can hunt or anything."

"But there's that werewolf up in…"

"No way. We are not taking a baby hunting."

"Can’t we just leave him in a motel room? He'll be fine."

"We are not leaving a baby in a motel."

"He's an angel!"

"A baby angel, the answer's no Dean."

"People are dying!"

"People are always dying; we have to put Cas first now."

"Fine, but that still leaves us with nowhere to go."

"What about Bobby's?"

"Sure, bet he's gonna love us swanning up with a baby!"

"He liked looking after us when we were kids."

"He tolerated looking after us, and besides, we were potty trained by that point. Cas is a full on baby."

"Well noticed."

"Shuddup geek boy."

"Look, I'm gonna call him."

"Fine."

Dean grabbed his stuff and went into the bathroom, smiling when he came out to see Cas curled up in the nook of his brother's arm, playing with Sam's hair as he continued his phone call with Bobby.

"Yeah, we'll be there in a couple of hours."

"You boys really need to stop getting in trouble"

"We didn't get into trouble, Cas did."

"You know what I mean, idjit. Y'know, I'd appreciate a house call where you are all in one piece, for once. Just once…can't you turn up all smiles one day with a lemon cake like normal people?"

"Have you seen my cooking?"

"True, scrap the lemon cake, smiles will do!"

"Maybe next time."

"Yeah, and pigs might fly."

"Weirder things have happened to us."

"Well that's true. Anyway, I'm gonna baby proof the house. D'ya need any supplies?"

"Nah, we're good. Little brat is all suited and booted."

"Is that affection I hear in your voice?"

"Nope."

"Yeah right, so what's he like as a kid? Is he still Mr.I'vegotastickupmyass?"

"Nah, he's kinda cute. He's all blue eyes and giggles. It makes a nice change." Cas cooed in agreement and snuggled further into Sam's arm.

"As long as he don't cry all night. Anyway, seya later Sam."

"Seya."

Sam hung up.

"So, we sorted?"

"Yep, just need to grab breakfast and go."

"And hit the toy store."

"What?"

"Well, he is a baby, we can't expect him to do nothing all day."

"You are so going soft."

"Am not. I'm just being nice."

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say that!"

Two Hours Later

Sam laughed his head off when Dean passed Castiel a tiny rattle in the shape of a rabbit.

The baby in his arms just stared blankly at his older brother, his mouth open and his head tilted in confusion.

It was almost if his bright blue eyes were saying 'Why are you handing me a plastic rabbit with beads in it? What does it do, is there a purpose for this object?'

"I don't think he's impressed with your choice, Dean."

Dean ignored his younger brother and looked down at Cas, who was still holding the plastic rabbit in his pudgy hands. He didn't shake it.

"You're meant to shake it dude, so it rattles…hence the name!"

Cas looked at Dean again. 'And why would I want to do that? Do humans derive pleasure from irritating noises?'

"Fine, I get it, no rattles. But that's what kids your size are meant to play with. What do you want then?"

Cas cooed softly and tugged at Sam's shirt, as if to say he wanted to leave.

"Dude, you have to get something to play with, I don't what you whining cos you're bored stiff."

"Dean, what about a teddy bear or something?"

"Isn't he a bit small for that?"

"No, let him pick one out, they're over there."

Dean watched in amusement as Sam carried Cas over to the aisle of stuffed teddy bears and began to ask the baby which he would prefer, holding out stuffed dogs, cats, rabbits, bears and a tiny pink pig.

"Dude, you're acting like a soccer mamma!"

"Shut up, jerk. You're the one who wanted to go toy shopping for him."

"Fine, but hurry up, that woman over there is going gooey eyed at us!" Cas cooed in the most adorably high voice and reached out to the teddy bears.

"Is Dean being a meanie-poo? Yes he is!"

"Dude, baby talk?"

"He is a baby! Anyway, which one do you want, Cas?"

Cas reached out towards a lemon teddy bear, which was shaped in a sitting position with a brown, hand-stitched nose, white fluffy ears and a white muzzle.

Sam picked it up and handed it to Cas, who wrapped his arms tight around it, flinching slightly when he stretched his stitches.

"Take it easy Cas, don't hurt yourself." Cas yawned and squeezed the teddy tighter before falling asleep.

"So, he won't shake a rattle, yet he is happy to go all gooey and cuddle a miniature version of Winnie-the-Pooh! What the hell?"

"That isn't Winnie, he wears a red top."

"You are the world's biggest girl, Samantha!"

"Whatever. Do we need anything else?"

"Uh, some diapers and another pacifier."

"Already picked 'em up."

"Fine, let's settle up and go."

Dean pulled out his wallet and paid the cashier, smiling when she commented on how adorable Cas was. Which was a fair comment, as the baby angel was giggling in delight as Sam tickled under his chin.

"Isn't he the cutest? Congratulations, it is clear that the little guy loves you very much."

Dean stared at her for a moment and was about to comment that he and Sam were not partners, when Sam interjected.

"Thanks ma'am. We're proud to finally be fathers." Cas cooed and the cashier cooed back before handing Dean the receipt.

"Have a safe trip."

"Thanks. Seya."

The brothers hurried out of the store, Cas still hugging the bear tight for comfort.

"Dude, why does everyone think we're a couple. I'm NOT gay!"

"Chill out man, a couple of guys buy toys and diapers for a baby; of course that's what people are gonna think."

"Yeah, well, there's nothing wrong with it or anything, but we're brothers. I mean, incest! Ugh…" Dean shuddered and loaded Cas into the baby seat.

"Agreed. The sooner we get to Bobby's the better."

Dean turned on the radio and revved up the Impala.

Highway to Hell began to play on the radio.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your kind comments and kudos so far, it means the world <3

Dean groaned when he heard a loud banging noise and rolled out of bed, falling to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Bobby snorted with laughter when he opened the boy's bedroom door, which he had been pounding on in an attempt to wake up the exhausted Winchester.

"Morning, idjit. Or afternoon…anyway, what you doing on the floor?

"G'way Bobby, m'tired."

"We're all tired, Cas screaming kept me and Sam up all night, but I don't see your little brother moping around on the floor."

"Whatever. I'm the one that had to get up and do his nappy or feed him every damn time he cried."

Dean drew his legs up to his chest and glared up at Bobby indignantly.

"Yeah, well Sam's been looking after him since seven in the morning, and its gone one now, so up and at 'em."

"Fine." Dean hauled himself up and bundled into the shower, groaning in pleasure as the stream of hot water hit his aching back.

It was their fourth day at Bobby's and Dean felt as if he hadn't sat down once.

His feet hurt, his back hurt, his head hurt and he just wanted to sleep, but Cas was having none of it.

It was almost as if the baby angel had declared war against Dean, every time the hunter got to sleep, Cas would cry and wake him up.

It would have been comical if Dean wasn't running off of caffeine, alcohol and pure will power.

Once he was clean-shaven and showered, Dean clambered downstairs and wandered into the kitchen, where Sam was trying and failing to coax some solid food into a very uncooperative baby's mouth.

"Mornin, Sammy. You alright?"

"Just tired. And Cas still won't eat solid food, I'm getting worried about him. He really should be eating by now, he's getting too skinny. I mean look at him, he's so bony that I swear, if I dropped him, he would snap."

"Maybe it's an angel thing. And besides, if you dropped him, he'd probably float…or smite your ass."

"Maybe." Sam didn't sound at all convinced.

"Here, let me try."

For the umpteenth time Dean took a tiny plastic spoon and shoveled some strawberry sauce onto it before offering the spoon to Cas, who was wailing in distress.

The baby angel was starving hungry and wanted his milk, but Dean and Sam weren't giving it to him.

"Please Cas, look, it's strawberry, it's real nice. Just eat it, you aint gonna turn into a big, butch angel of the lord if you don't eat your greens, or reds. Please?!"

Cas wailed and turned his head away from the spoon, screaming for a bottle with tears streaming down his milk-white face.

"Just eat it Cas, it will make you feel better, c'mon sweetie. Look, I'll eat a bit and then it's your turn…" Dean ate the spoonful of sauce, smiling at the sweet taste as his tastebuds exploded with pleasure.

"Mmmm, see, it's delicious." Dean rubbed his flat stomach and smacked his lips like an idiot before guiding the re-filled spoon towards Cas' mouth.

"Tell you what dude; you really don't know how to appreciate the finer things in life." Cas sniffled and began sucking at the air in desperation.

"C'mon chuckles, here comes the 'pala." Dean made a revving noise, just like the sound his Baby made, before the sauce touched Cas' lips. Or rather, it would have touched his lips if Cas hadn't turned his head away.

Now, the baby angel's face was covered in red goo…and he was still crying.

Bobby wandered into the room and took stock of the situation.

"You're meant to put it in the kid's mouth, not on his cheek, Dean. I thought you were an expert on eating."

"Ugh, you try to get him to eat then, if you think its’ so easy."

"I already have, before Sam. Look, just give him a bottle before he starves to death."

Dean's shoulders slumped in defeat as he made a bottle for Cas, which he handed to Bobby.

The eldest hunter took the milk and settled down into a worn sofa, cradling Cas in the crook of his arm and placing the bottle next to the tiny baby's mouth.

Cas, who was beside himself with a mixture of hunger and the excitement of finally having a bottle, did not have a clue what to do with himself. It took him a while to finally latch onto the nipple, and once he started, he drank the bottle so quickly that he began to hiccough.

Bobby patted Cas' back gently and offered Cas his teddy in an attempt to calm the angel down. It appeared that the hiccups were making him frightened, but a crying baby was no match for Bobby Singer.

Soon he and a calm Cas were sat down on the floor, stacking up some toy blocks that the rugged hunter had hauled down from the attic.

Cas watched in amazement as Bobby showed him how to build a little tower, and then knocked it down.

Cas' face screwed up at the destruction, but Bobby quickly put another, taller tower together and Cas giggled in delight.

After a while, Bobby was guiding Cas' hands, helping the baby stack up the blocks by himself.

Cas was giggling when the towers fell down and he was taking an insane amount of delight from watching them topple over, in the knowledge that it could all be put back together again.

He then took up babbling to himself and glancing up at Bobby, who pulled silly faces and nodded in encouragement.

Sam looked up from his laptop on occasion and smiled whilst Dean sat back, dozing on the sofa with a beer in hand.

A couple of hours later, Dean woke from his slumber and to his amusement, Bobby was reading a made-up story to Cas, who was giggling at the voices the hunter was putting on.

"Then, the angel lit the lighter and watched as the skeleton below him caught fire, banishing the evil spirit back where it belonged and saving the day. Once he had filled in the grave, the angel straightened his tie and pulled his trench coat tighter against the cold, making his way home to the Winchesters house, where they had pie for dinner and lived happily ever after."

Cas grinned in delight at the happy outcome of the story and yawned sleepily, crawling over to Dean for a quick cuddle before heading back to Bobby, who scooped Cas up into a hug and smiled as Cas dozed, half way between the land of nod and reality.

Crawling was the only way Cas was showing any signs of development. Even though he wasn't eating, he had now mastered the act of dragging his legs around with his hands, although occasionally he would topple over and wail to be carried again.

"So then Bobby, playing and making up stories for a baby. Are you going soft on me, old man?"

"I most certainly am not, don't annoy me or I'll load your ass with rock salt, baby or not."

"You so are, look; you're practically mamma bear now! He was cuddling you tighter than his teddy!"

"Yeah, well…better going soft than senile!"

"So you do admit that you're going soft, and that you're old!"

"Get out of it Dean!"

Dean smirked and left Bobby too it, surreptitiously snapping a few pictures of Bobby holding Cas up and nuzzling their noses together.

Cas woke up a little and squealed in delight at the extra attention, reaching out for Bobby's beard and tugging at it.

And then he did the unthinkable.

He took Bobby's hat off of the older hunter's head and began to wave it around.

Sam and Dean exchanged worried looks, waiting for the explosion.

No-one messed with Bobby's hat and got away with it.

But the shout never came, and both Winchesters were startled when Bobby laughed deeply, his face crumpled up in mirth as he took the cap from Cas and placed it on the angel's mop of black hair.

Castiel giggled in delight as the cap slipped down over his eyes so that he couldn't see.

To be honest, the situation was beyond ridiculous and it took a while for the Winchesters and Bobby to regain control of their laughter. A few claps to Sam's back were necessary, and Dean was beet-red from a lack of oxygen.

None of them had laughed that hard in years.

But all of that abruptly stopped when they heard a flutter of wings, followed by the sound of Castiel's last standing tower falling apart.

"Hello my favourite little monkeys, I hope you have been taking care of my little brother whilst I was on vacation."

"GOD!" Bobby, who had almost dropped Cas in shock, tightened his grip around his skinny waist and shushed him gently, rocking him back and forth as the baby began to squirm frantically.

"Nope, just me, Gabriel. But I guess you are close enough…"

"Shut your cake hole!" Dean rose to his feet and pulled a knife out from his jeans, holding it to Gabriel's throat.

It looked as if the angel had put his stomach back together, so he didn't feel at all bad about threatening him with another hole.

It would heal.

"Really, please point that stick away from my face, I am rather fond of this meat suit."

"Seriously dude, what the hell! You can't just dump us with a baby with no explanation and not turn up for God knows how long! He's a kid, well, an angel. LOOK AT HIM! What happened? How did it happen? Who did this to him?"

"Woah, enough with the 21 questions. Look, I came as soon as I could. If you failed no notice, during my last visit, my insides were outsides. But enough of that…answer number one, he got turned into a baby, which I thought was pretty obvious. I thought that even you two chuckle heads could have worked that out. Secondly, it happened because once again, Cas followed his heart, not his head and ended up getting himself angel-napped. Thirdly, it was a demon who did the angel-napping. It was quite an impressive spell actually…" Gabriel tailed off, seemingly in admiration.

Dean opened his mouth to retaliate, but with a lazy wave of his hand Dean found himself incapable of making a sound.

"Dean! DEAN! What the hell did you do to my brother?" Sam balled up his fists in fury.

"Don't worry Gigantor, nothing permanent, unless you want it to be."

"Turn the volume up on him. Now."

"Do I have to?" Gabriel's voice took on a whining tone.

"YES!"

"Fine." Gabriel snapped his fingers with a sigh.

"You bitch!" Dean lunged at Gabriel, ready to beat him to a pulp, but Gabriel had disappeared and reappeared by the bookcase.

"Really, you think you can left-hook an archangel? Sweet."

"Look, why are you here? Are you gonna take Castiel back to heaven or what?"

"Or what. I am going to do something better. I have a cure."

"A cure? You mean you can fix him?" Sam beamed and took Cas from Bobby, still holding him close, but slowly approaching Gabriel.

"That is generally the point of a cure."

Gabriel reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny phial full of navy blue liquid.

"What the hell is that?"

"Trust me; you do not want to know."

"What will it do to him?"

"Turn him into a marshmallow…make him older you chimp!"

"Where did you get it?"

"Here, there and everywhere. This is why it took me a while to get back to you. You just can't trust long-haul shipping anymore."

"Fine, give it to me."

"No, I don't want you screwing things up like you normally do. This took far too long to make. Give me Cas. He's my damn brother."

Sam, Dean and Bobby exchanged a look before Sam reluctantly passed Cas over.

The tiny baby was crying softly, but Gabriel rocked him a little and whispered something in Enochian, which seemed to calm him down.

"Open up Cas." Castiel opened his mouth and obediently drank the gloopy liquid, crying at the taste and gagging.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Dean grabbed Cas from Gabriel's arms and rubbed his back as the baby coughed and threw up blue vomit all down his shirt.

"Shh, it's alright Cas, don't cry." Cas wailed louder, frantically kicking and flailing in Dean's arms.

"Just put him down and wait, otherwise your gonna find yourself carrying all 1.80 meters of a 39 year old man's body"

"Ok, ok." Dean settled Cas onto the sofa and pulled off his sick-soaked shirt.

"How long will this take?" Sam watched worriedly as Cas began to jerk wildly, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Not long now." Gabriel threw himself down onto the sofa and rested his legs upon Bobby's coffee table.

They all watched in a tense silence as Cas whimpered and moaned and eventually the hunters looked away.

But Gabriel watched the whole thing, his smiling face suddenly turning into a frown at the same time as Cas stopped crying.

The hunters looked up and for a moment thought it was all over.

"Wait, what did you do?!"

Gabriel looked around sheepishly, looking at the empty phial in confusion.

"Uh, I'll be back soon boys." With a flutter of wings he disappeared.

"Wait, what?" Dean stared down at Cas in confusion.

"Well, I guess we're back to square one then." Bobby tilted his cap a little and groaned, walking into the kitchen to grab a beer.

"Dean, what do we do?" Sam glanced at his brother, who was standing stock still.

"Uh, the same as before, look after him…I guess it's a slight improvement."

Sam looked down at the black-haired four year old sat up on the sofa and wondered whether it was an improvement or not.

But one thing was for certain.

Cas was no longer a six-month-old baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So please let me know what you think, you know the score :D xxx


	7. Chapter 7

"Cas, do you feel alright, c'mon, don't cry. At least you're not a baby anymore. Shhh, please, c'mon man, my head hurts already! Shhhhh. Hey, come here, what do you want? Is there anything I can do right now?" Dean babbled comfortingly as he approached Castiel's tiny frame, which was heaving with exertion, fear and sickness.

The toddler soon found himself being sick again. The tiny phial of blue liquid had clearly gone a long way and with every heave Cas felt as if his bones were rattling and his stomach was trying to make its way out of his throat.

"DEEEEEEEE!" Cas let out a pitiful whimper when he had finally finished throwing up on Bobby's floor and wriggled uncomfortably, sliding off the sofa and flinging his arms around Dean's leg, beginning to sniffle softly and soak through his jeans.

"It's ok, y'wanna go get cleaned up?"

"D-Dean…m…m'tummy h'rts bad."

"Ok, ok. C'mere."

Castiel sobbed miserably and went limp as Dean lifted him up, allowing Dean to wrap his arms around his waist for a hug.

"Dee! M'scared."

"You don't need to be scared buddy, we'll get you back to normal, I promise."

"Wanna…wanna be big!"

"I know you do, don't worry, we'll get you big again."

"Where Gabe?"

"I don't know, I'm sure he's out looking for a way to make you big…bigger."

Cas cried harder and began to convulse a little until he had managed to vomit up the last of the blue gunge over Dean's bare chest.

Dean gagged a little at the smell, but put Cas first, rubbing his back soothingly and carding a hand through Cas' long mop of hair as the toddler shook violently.

"I've got you. Easy."

Soon Dean was running a bath for Cas, making sure it wasn't too hot before he laid Castiel into the warm water and used a cloth to wipe his face and chest off.

Cas sniffled but remained still so that Dean could clean him up. It was clear that he no longer had any tears left to cry.

"There, is that better now?"

Castiel gave an almost imperceptible nod and laid back a little, allowing the warm water to soothe his body, which was aching almost unbearably from his rapid growth spurt.

Dean smiled in satisfaction and used a cloth to wipe the puke off of his own chest, grimacing before chucking it into the bin. He could buy Bobby a new one later.

"Cas, you ready to come out now?"

Cas raised his arms so Dean could carry him out of the bath and smiled a little when Dean wrapped him up tight in a soft fluffy towel.

"Does your tummy still hurt? Are you hungry?" Cas gave a gentle shake of his head and yawned, ignoring the fact that his stomach was rumbling. For some reason his back was aching as well as his stomach and he just wanted to sleep.

Which is exactly what he did, going limp in Dean's arms as his breathing deepened and evened out.

"Right, nap time for you." Dean strolled downstairs and laid Cas down on the sofa, tucking him in under a blanket and surrounding the toddler with cushions before going to find Sam and Bobby in the kitchen.

"Hey there tiger mamma, you two all cleaned up?"

"Yeah, Cas has worn himself out and is crashing on the sofa. I'm gonna head out and get him some new clothes, can you two make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Sure thing." Sam grabbed his beer and headed off to the lounge, closely followed by Bobby who was struggling under the weight of four boxes of books.

"Dean, don't get yourself killed out shopping." He spoke gruffly, but Dean could hear the underlying concern. Despite Bobby's hard exterior, he was all fluff on the inside.

"I can't make any promises." Dean chuckled a little before turning to leave.

Soon, Dean had a basket full of toddler-sized clothes, including some tiny pairs of jeans, T-shirts, bigger socks, a new pair of shoes, toddler sized pull-ups and a tiny hat which looked like a bear. It had ears and everything and Dean just couldn't resist.

He was beaming cheerfully as he headed back to the Impala with his shopping bags. At least this shopping trip hadn't gone badly.

* * *

 

Things were also going well back at Bobby's.

Cas had woken up but was a lot less distressed now, pulling himself up from off the sofa and going over to Sam for a hug.

"Hey big guy, how ya feelin?"

"M'good. Play with me?" Cas settled down on the floor, ignoring the ache in his back and smiling when Sam settled down next to him, awkwardly crossing his overly-long legs.

"Sure. What do you want to play?"

"Teddy!"

"Ok then, we'll play with your teddy."

Sam smiled as Cas pretended to pour cups of tea for himself, Sam and his teddy bear. It was the cutest thing Sam had ever seen.

"Sam? Am I doing human good?"

"Yeah, you're doing real good looking after teddy like that. You're a clever little tyke, aren't you?"

Cas nodded softly and continued playing on his own, babbling to his teddy bear as Sam and Bobby went into the kitchen to discuss the situation without upsetting Cas.

It wasn't until half an hour later that they realized something was wrong.

"Sam, do you hear that?" Bobby put down his beer and beckoned to Sam to be quiet.

"Hear what?"

"Exactly. It's quiet. Too quiet."

"Shit."

"CAS!" Sam hurried into the lounge and sighed in relief when he saw no blood on the floor or soaking through Cas' blanket, or anyone threatening the kid.

But that relief disappeared when he saw how pale Cas was, and the fact that tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"Hey baby, what's wrong?"

Cas didn't answer, but he was visibly shaking from across the room.

"Shhh, don't cry."

Sam tried to wrap his arms around Cas, which he realized was a big mistake when Cas screamed and ran to the coffee table, which he proceeded to hide under.

Sam followed, gingerly reaching out for Castiel, who seemed to have frozen into place.

Cas made a keening sound when Sam's hand gently reached under the table and touched his back. His tiny head shot back up in pain as he tried to press himself further under the table.

Castiel was breathing heavily now as he continued to make small, desperate panting noises as he gasped in air too quickly.

He was hyperventilating.

"Cas, easy now Cas, breathe little guy, breathe for me."

Cas began hiccoughing, unable to scream, wail or sob anymore.

"Cas, you gotta tell me what's wrong. Are you hurting?"

Cas gave a small nod and shook in agony.

"Ok, where hurts?"

"M…m…b-back. H'rts real bad!"

"Ok, can you come out now, just breathe, relax and I'll take a look."

Cas nodded and crawled out from his hiding place, allowing Sam to pick him up – although the hunter made sure not to touch his back.

"Woah, easy there buddy, It's ok, Cas. Everything is alright. I got you."

Cas hiccoughed again and grabbed Sam's hair as another wave of pain shot up his back.

"Sam, what's wrong with him?" Bobby peered over, concerned.

"I dunno. Castiel, I'm going to lay you down on the sofa, and then we can take a look at your back. Ok?"

Sam gently disentangled Cas' balled up fists from his hair, flinching when a few strands of his hazel locks were torn out. But it was a small price to pay and he was clearly in a lot less pain than the toddler in his arms.

"I'm just gonna take off your blanked Cas, and then we'll make it all better."

"H'rts."

"I know it does, kiddo. You'll feel better soon. I promise."

Sam gently eased the blanket off of Cas' back, leaving it covering the child's legs.

Then, he stared at Cas' back in horror and gasped at the sight that met his eyes.

"Shit! Bobby, what do we do?"

Bobby glanced down at Cas' back and shrugged, fiddling with his cap.

"Uhhh, I can't say angel wings are something I enjoy researching for bedtime reading."

"Ok, ok." Sam glanced down at Cas' back again.

There were two crimson, raised lines trailing across Castiel's back. They were almost scar-like, and grotesque against Castiel's usually milk-white skin.

The whole area was inflamed, the mid section of his back was black, the outer edges red.

If Sam hadn't have known better, he'd have said the black was bruising. But he knew what it really was. It was Castiel's raven-black feathers tucked under his skin, stretching his back in an attempt to unfurl.

"It hurts! M-make it st-stop." Cas cried and gripped the sofa so hard that his knuckles went white.

"Deep breaths Cas, Bobby is getting you some children's' Tylenol. Try to relax for me."

Castiel swallowed hard and whimpered as Bobby handed him some pills and poured water down his throat.

"Don't worry, Dean will be back soon and we can work something out."

Cas nodded and screwed his eyes shut, waiting in near silence as his back felt like it is being ripped apart, split a millimeter at a time.

It was torture.

* * *

 

Dean pulled up outside Bobby's and grabbed his bags, scooping out the hat and throwing open the door.

"Hey Cas, look what I got you…Cas?" Dean sensed the tension in the room and glanced at Cas, freezing at the gruesome sight that met his eyes.

Cas' skin looked even worse than before, it was so tender where the scars were beginning to split apart, a mixture of blood and shining white liquid pouring out.

Grace.

"Shit Cas, you're ok now, I'm here." Dean placed a hand on the small of Cas' back, flinching when Cas hissed. Clearly the skin there was also excruciatingly painful.

"Easy, easy there Cas, you're ok."

The hunters watched in a mixture of fascination and horror as a few black feathers began to poke out between Castiel's shoulder blades and after an hour of listening to the angel's pained whimpers, Cas' wings had fully emerged.

They were tiny in comparison to usual, only two feet wide or so. They would have been beautiful if it weren't for all the blood.

"There, they're out now Cas, you did real good."

Cas didn't even have the energy to acknowledge Bobby's praise, lying still as Dean left his side and returned a few moments later with a bowl of water and a towel.

"I'm gonna clean you up, then you can get some sleep, Cas."

Castiel nodded a little and winced as Dean silently began to wipe away the grime as quickly as he could. Cas wanted to scream at Dean to stop hurting him, to claw and fight and snarl at the indignity of the situation, but he didn’t have the energy.

Growing his wings the first time round in Heaven had not hurt this much, he barely remembered the experience. Of course, he knew that all fledglings grew their wings on their fourth birthday, but he never considered it to be traumatic.

But then again, the first time round he had been with his brothers, who had enveloped him in grace and groomed him with delicate hands and holy water.

Sam and Dean continued to whisper reassurances as they began to card their hands through his feathers, straightening them out and wiping away the blood before finally declaring that they were done.

"It's over, you're all clean. Cas, your wings are so beautiful." Sam massaged the back of Cas' neck as Dean pulled a pull-up onto him.

"You wanna go to bed?"

Cas nodded and allowed himself to be carried to bed, where he allowed all tension to flow out of him.

He was exhausted.

Beyond exhausted.

He felt as if every ounce of grace had been drained from his body.

"Night Cas, sleep well."

Dean ruffled his hair a little and smiled as Cas splayed his wings out and promptly fell asleep.

"Poor little guy, how much more can he go through?" Sam stared at Cas sadly and followed Dean out of the bedroom.

"I dunno, but he's strong. He'll pull through."

"Yeah, you're right, there's no point worrying."

"I'm always right. Anyway, I think it's beer-O-Clock."

Sam laughed and trailed behind Dean as they headed into the kitchen.


	8. Chapter 8

Cas woke with a start, flashes of his dream…nightmare, running before his eyes as he sat up and gasped shakily.

His back was still incredibly painful, the areas around his wings mottled with black, blue and green bruising, but some of the swelling had gone down in the past few hours and he felt a lot better physically.

But emotionally…

The nightmare, or whatever it was, had deeply shaken the angel. He didn't have a clue what it was and the images before him didn't make sense. It was as if he was trying to remember something that he had tucked away, deep in his vessel.

It was all too much to make sense of.

There was impenetrable blackness, the sound of water dripping and…and something else.

He just didn't know what it was.

All he knew was that whatever had happened filled him with such terror that his entire body began to shake and tremble.

Tears sprung into Cas' eyes and he slid out of his bed, despite it still being dark outside. He wasn't sleepy anymore.

Cas allowed himself a moment of gratitude that Sam had left a lamp on for him before he slid out of bed and walked over to Sam's bed.

It seemed as though Dean was sleeping downstairs, considering the fact that Castiel had taken his twin bed.

"Sam." Cas reached up to Sam's bed, struggling to reach the youngest Winchester.

"Sam!" Cas said a little more urgently. His entire body was shaking now and he felt dizzy, as if the darkness was encroaching on him.

Sam snored in response, it was only three in the morning and he was catching up on some much needed sleep.

"SAAAM!" Cas called, jumping up so that he was just able to tap Sam's arm.

Sam groaned, a deep growl from the back of his throat.

He batted a hand at Cas, trying to make the distraction go away before he let out another snore.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAM!" Cas squealed, tears slipping down his cheeks as he made another lunge for Sam's arm, this time clinging on until Sam suddenly snapped awake, assuming a defensive position.

"Cas?" Cas cried softly, reaching up his arms so Sam would scoop him up.

"Hey, what's wrong, buddy? Is it your back again? Are you hurt?" Cas sniffled and buried his head in Sam's night shirt, relaxing and finding it hard to keep his eyes open.

"M-m'scared."

"What of?"

"I-I don't know."

Sam paused, rocking Cas gently as he sniffled.

"Want Dean."

"Ok, I'll take you down to Dean, then will you go back to sleep?"

Castiel nodded and began to drift off in Sam's arms, tightening his grip on the teddy that Sam pressed into his arms.

"Dean, Dean, wake up." Dean grunted in annoyance when Sam pulled his blanket off.

"Where's the hot chick?"

"What?"

"That is the only reasonable explanation that I could think of for you waking me up at this ungodly hour."

"Uh, not quite. Cas wants you." Sam deposited a sleeping Cas into Dean's arms.

"Couldn't you have dealt with it?"

"No, he asked for you. He said he was scared, but didn't know what of."

"Peachy."

Dean pulled his blanket up and around himself and Cas…luckily Cas was small enough to fit on the sofa with him.

Just as Sam turned to leave, he stepped on a creaky floorboard, waking Castiel up.

"S'm?"

"S'okay, you're with Dean now."

"Want you!"

"But you said you wanted Dean."

"Want both."

"Cas. We can't all sleep on the sofa, or in a single twin bed. We won't fit. Just go to sleep." Dean ran a hand over his eyes and massaged his temple before flopping his head down grimly.

"What is all the commotion? You guys are making a racket." A grumpy looking Bobby entered the room, shielding his eyes from the overly-bright light that Sam had turned on.

"Cas wants to sleep with us both." Sam rolled his eyes and beckoned to Cas, who was pressed up against Dean's chest and clinging on to his own sleeve.

"Right…Maybe you could, just for the night. Swallow your pride for the tyke, he's been through enough."

"Look, even if I did want to take part in the most chick-flick moment in the world, we wouldn't all fit together. If you hadn't noticed, my little brother is a friggin giant."

"Look, take my bed, it's a double. That way we all can sleep."

"Thanks Bobby." Dean sat up and carried Cas upstairs, sliding between Bobby's covers, which smelt of whiskey and aftershave. Cas nestled up close to him, wriggling over a little more when Sam slipped in on Cas' other side.

The angel was now settled in between the brothers, teddy in hand and thankfully he finally seemed content.

His new wings brushed up against the Winchesters as he drifted off to sleep.

"Dude, this is humiliating." Dean was mortified…if word got out…

"Shhh, don't wake him up for God's sake. Night."

"Night."

…

When Dean woke, he was face to face with Cas, who was curled up in a tiny ball with his thumb in his mouth. His wings seemed to have retracted during the night.

It was an adorable sight and Cas looked, well, angelic.

"Rise and shine sleepy." He nudged the angel gently and smiled when bright blue eyes met the gaze of his own green ones.

"Dean?" Sam ran a hand through his hair and sat up, wrapping an arm around Cas and cuddling him before getting out of Bobby's bed.

"Morning." Dean yawned widely and followed suit, walking into the twin room and grabbing Cas' new clothes before heading into the bathroom to get the toddler changed.

Once he was done, Cas ran downstairs, bouncing up and down beside Bobby to wake the hunter up.

"Hey, aren't you just a pint-sized bundle of fun."

"Bobby! Play with me?"

"Not before breakfast, little man."

"M'not hungry."

"You have to eat."

"Milk?"

"Nope, you're a big boy now. How about toast?"

"No, milk."

"You can't live off milk, how about yoghurt? I have strawberry."

Cas shook his head again and began to cry, but eventually Bobby left the room saying he could eat yoghurt like a big boy or would have to starve to death.

Which of course led to more tears, screaming and an eventual tantrum.

Sam and Dean had come into the room to find Cas wailing at the top of his lungs, screaming that he was hungry and that his tummy hurt.

"Don't even think about it." Dean paused, halfway through picking up the box of formula milk powder.

Bobby had appeared out of nowhere and gave a gentle shake of his head.

"He needs to learn somehow."

Dean didn't look convinced, especially when Cas threw his arms around his legs and cried miserably.

"C'mon Cas, just eat the yoghurt. It'll taste real good."

Eventually Cas gave in, eating half a pot of yogurt before throwing up all over the floor.

"Jeez Cas, how the hell did you work yourself up that much?" Cas shook his head a little and waited for Dean to pick him up, which the hunter did in a heartbeat, unable to resist scooping up the crying angel.

"Ok Cas, I'll get you some milk, I promise." Dean quickly heated up a cup of milk and handed it to the toddler, who drank it quickly before glaring at Bobby, who groaned.

"Bunch of idjits…"

"So, what now?" Sam piped up.

"Uh, we could go out or something? What do you think Cas?"

Castiel nodded softly and wriggled out of Dean's grip.

"There's a park nearby with some slides and stuff, sound good Cas?"

Castiel nodded a little before grabbing Sam's hand and tugging him towards the door.

…

Dean sat slumped on the bench with Bobby, watching in amusement as Sam eased his lanky frame onto a bright red see-saw. His legs were far too long to fit and it took him a whole minute of wriggling for him to finally bend his knees enough so that he could push up against the ground, sending Cas plummeting down.

"SAMMY!" Cas giggled in delight, as Sam rested all of his weight on his side of the see-saw, this time sending Cas flying into the air.

"You having a good time?" Sam laughed softly, his legs would be aching like a bitch for days after this, but as long as Cas was enjoying himself, he didn't mind.

"Yeah!"

"Awesome. Y'wanna go on the swings next?"

Cas nodded, hopping off of the see-saw and running over to the swings, tripping over in excitement but springing straight back up again.

"SAM! Hurry!"

"COMING!" Sam jogged after Castiel, huffing. He was going to be dead by the end of this trip. If Cas' cuteness didn't finish him off, the exertion of chasing him around certainly would.

When Sam finally caught up, Cas was struggling fruitlessly to hoist himself onto the closest swing.

Sam smiled and scooped him up, settling his tiny bottom on the seat before Sam began to push Cas gently.

Cas squealed in delight, begging Sam to push him faster and higher.

"More! More! Flying!"

"Yeah you are buddy, hold on tight and you can go higher." Cas did as he was told, his knuckles going white as he clutched the rails with all his strength.

Soon, he was soaring into the air, laughing at the top of his lungs, gaining himself smiles from young parents and passers by.

Dean and Bobby were also watching intently, especially when Cas called out to them.

"LOOK AT ME! I'M FLYING! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Cas beamed when Sam gave an extra hard push, which sent him rocketing towards the clouds.

He was so excited that he began to clap his hands, realizing too late that when he took his hands off the rails to do so, he would fall.

Cas plummeted to the ground in a split second, but to the hunters it felt like events were unfurling in slow motion.

Cas just had time to let out a high pitched scream before landing in a heap on the ground.

Sam didn't have a chance; he didn't even have enough time to reach out for the toddler.

"Shit, Cas, CAS!" Bobby and Dean ran over as Sam scooped a sobbing Cas up, checking him over for injuries.

"Shhhh, it's ok Cas, I'm sorry, Cas, where hurts?" Cas cried miserably, wailing when Sam brushed a hand over his bloody knees. His new jeans were ripped and soaked with blood, the tear in the fabric revealing a deep, gravel filled graze.

"Shhh, don't cry baby, it's not that bad. Can you be a big, brave boy for me and stand up?" Cas nodded shakily and stood, swaying a little and wiping his streaming eyes and nose with the back of his hand.

"Ugh, don't do that Cas. Here, have a tissue." Cas took the tissue and wiped his nose again, allowing himself to be led over to the tiny café area that the park boasted.

"Oh, dear, what happened here sweetie?" A matronly woman wearing an apron looked up from the ice-cream cabinet and hurried around to Cas, who was still sniffling.

"Shall I get you a band-aid? How about a Batman one?"

Dean nodded gratefully, carrying Cas into the bathroom, where he settled the wailing toddler on the counter and began to wipe the blood away from his' knees.

"Shhh, you're doing good. Nearly done…just let me clean you up a bit more." Dean cautiously used his nails to pull out the last few pieces of gravel, eliciting a disgruntled hiss from Cas.

"Here's your band aids, and once you're done, I'm sure there's a really big ice cream waiting for you, on the house. We can't have brave little boys being hungry now, can we?" Dean smiled gratefully, taking the proffered band aids and sticking them down on Cas' knees.

"All done." Cas whimpered as he was settled back down on the ground and he began to cry softly when he started to walk. Bending his knees made the grazes sting like crazy.

Noticing this, Dean knelt down and hoisted Cas onto his shoulders.

"Ok little guy, up you come." Castiel wriggled a little to get comfy and took hold of Dean's hair, clinging on tight as Dean walked to the ice cream counter.

"Hey, thanks again for the band aids. Can I get two scoops of salted caramel, a double tub of lemon sorbet for Sammy, a double of rum and raison for Bobby and…uh, a kids sized vanilla cone for Cas."

"Sure thing hon." The woman smiled cheerily, handing out the ice creams and ruffling Cas' hair affectionately before taking the proffered money and bidding them a safe evening.

Everyone tucked into their ice cream, well, everyone but Cas, who was eyeing it suspiciously.

"Hey Cas, did you know that ice cream is made up of frozen milk? I think you'll like it." Cas' eyes narrowed but he licked at the cone experimentally, his eyes widening when the cold sensation hit his lips.

"Cold!"

"Yeah, its ice cream Cas, ice…it's meant to be cold. What about the taste though, do you like that?"

"Ummm, yeah." Cas smiled and licked more of his ice cream, still clinging to Dean's hair with one hand.

Soon, Dean felt sticky, freezing cold liquid dripping into his hair and he sighed a little, but Sam and Bobby laughed.

"Shut up you two, for that you are going to be the ones who join Cas on the round-about whilst I spin you."

….

Ten minutes later an extremely dizzy Sam was staggering across the park on all fours, Cas riding him like a 'pony,' a fact which Cas was squealing about at the top of his voice. Of course, Sam had fallen down first with dizziness, but he pretended that was part of his grand plan…which was why a four year old was sitting on his back ordering him to 'giddy up.'

"Alright ya idjits, time to head back." Bobby, who was leant against a swing pole for support, forced himself to speak whilst battling to stop the world from spinning around him.

"But…"

"No buts Cas, it's nearly dinner time."

With a sigh Cas nodded, settling in Sam's grip and beginning to doze off.

"Well aint he just the cutest…" Bobby tried to put on the sarcasm, but it was clear that he meant what he said.

It looked as though a pint-sized Cas could melt anyone's heart like butter, even a hardened hunter's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! I live for comments and will get round to replying tomorrow!!! <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your support so far, it means the world!

Dean woke the next morning with Cas strewn across his chest, clinging to his short hair with a balled up fist whilst his other arm was dangled over Sam's.

Castiel's wings were splayed out against both brothers and Dean found himself mesmerized by how soft the feathers were. They were silky against his skin and Dean found himself stroking them gently, carding his hands through the feathers and straightening a few out with the tips of his fingers.

"Mmmm?" Cas blinked his eyes open and yawned widely, pulling his teddy closer to his chest and mumbling a little.

"Sorry Cas, I didn't mean to wake you." Dean stopped stroking Cas' wings, but Cas rustled them a little and tried to flatten his wings back against Dean, encouraging him to carry on.

"What?"

"S'nice. Gabe and Balthy used to groom me before…it feels like home." Dean nodded and smiled a little, finishing off straightening Cas' wings before dressing him in a new pair of jeans and a jumper.

"Wake up man; me and Cas are all groomed and ready for breakfast."

Sam grunted, throwing his pillow at Dean before ruffling Cas' hair affectionately and wandering off for a shower.

The Winchesters and Bobby wiled away the morning and early afternoon playing board games and memorably, Twister…which had culminated in Bobby groaning that his back was going to break in half and Sam crushing Dean, who subsequently landed on Cas.

Luckily, no-one was hurt and by the end of the game the boys were hot and sweaty, but most importantly, they were laughing until they had stitches in their sides.

And of course…they had all let Cas win…well, that was what they kept telling themselves.

However, after a late lunch consisting of burgers for the adults and a milkshake for Cas, the hunters knew that had to get down to business.

"Cas, are you ok to play on your own for a bit, we are going to do some research."

"Ok, De." Cas smiled sweetly.

"Thanks Cas."

"Hug first?"

"Fine…" Dean gave a mock-exasperated groan before scooping Castiel up, pulling him into a tight hug, spinning him around and then settling the laughing angel back onto the floor.

"You good now?"

"Yeah!" Cas beamed, running to Sam and Bobby, giving them a tight hug too before Bobby carried him over to the sofa and settled him down with some homemade play dough.

When Bobby had woken up hours before the Winchesters, he set about making it, mixing flour, salt, water, food coloring and cooking oil.

"There, you can make some cool models now. Just don't make a mess. Oh, and I left you some puzzles on the side in case you get bored of that, ok?"

"Thanks Bobby!" Cas grinned, cuddling Bobby one more time before picking up the blue dough and beginning to shape into a ball.

Bobby smiled and left, knowing damn well that when he returned there would be play dough ingrained into his carpet and sofa.

"Right then idjits, what are we going to do now? We still haven't heard back from Gabriel and there is nothing in any of my books."

"I don't know man, I hate to say it but we need Gabriel." Dean slumped onto the sofa in defeat.

"You could try praying." Sam piped up, as if it was the most logical thing in the world…which it probably was…but still…Dean, pray? No way!

"Me, praying? No thanks Samantha. You can pray."

"Fine, I will. Uh…To Gabriel…who art in heaven…probably, uh, please can you come and help us out. We need you, Cas needs you. Urr, over and out…I guess." Sam spoke hurriedly, closing his eyes briefly, waiting for the tell-tale flutter of wings.

But it never came.

"Sons of bitches! They never come!"

"Dean, maybe you should try."

"Oi, Gabriel, get your feathery ass down here. Amen." Sam snorted in amusement, but wasn't surprised when Gabriel didn't turn up.

"Uh, we could summon him."

"Oh yeah, great, he's gonna love that!"

"Well, boys, I think it's our only choice right now."

Bobby interrupted before the argument could get heated. He grabbed some books and set out an angel trap, pouring out a circle of oil on the floor in preparation.

Them he grabbed a bowl and began to fill it with leaves, herbs and a couple of bones, setting it inside a sigil that Dean had chalked onto the floor – a circle divided into quadrants with four Enochian symbols.

Then, he set fire to the dish and waited.

Gabriel appeared in the blink of an eye, and with a wide grin, Dean flicked on his own lighter and dropped it to the ground, setting the holy oil on fire.

The archangel glanced down at the blazing ring surrounding him and groaned.

"Really boys, if you can't tell, I was rather busy."

Gabriel made a sweeping gesture with his hands, highlighting the fact that he was wearing nothing but a pair of Superman boxers whilst holding a can of whipped cream in one hand and a jug of melted chocolate in the other.

"GABRIEL! What in God's name are you doing?"

"Well, I thought that was pretty obvious, or do you boys want a demonstration?"

Gabriel waggled his eyebrows, smirking in amusement as the boys flinched in disgust.

"Usually I would charge…but you are my favorite little apes so…" Gabriel teasingly slid a finger down the side of his boxers and began to stretch the elastic.

Dean snapped.

"Ok, ok we get it. Just tell us what's going on with Cas and we'll let you go."

"Well, if you hadn't interrupted, I would have been able to gain some more information, hmm, two minutes ago. If you hadn't gathered, I was leasing with the enemy."

"Huh, so that's what you call it up in heaven."

"Watch your tongue, or I will be forced to silence you, Dean. Your voice is really starting to grate on me."

"Yeah, well maybe if you found a damn cure for Cas instead of fraternizing with…or fucking the enemy, then you wouldn't be having your wings done extra crispy."

"Boy, you really do have a large mouth."

With a snap of his fingers Dean was suddenly rendered incapable of speech…a giant lollypop had materialized in his mouth and no matter how hard he yanked at the stick, it would not come out.

"Stop scowling at me Dean, I chose cherry for you, your favorite."

Dean shot the archangel a look that screamed 'sonofabitch!'

"Anyway, onto more important things." Gabriel flicked his wrist and another, smaller lollypop appeared and the whipped cream and chocolate vanished.

With a smile Gabriel placed the candy in his mouth, taking the whole thing in and sucking on it seductively, licking the tip and letting out a small moan of pleasure at the taste.

"Gross dude." Sam tried to keep a stern face but Dean's facial expression was hilarious.

"That's as may be, but I don't care. Now, if you wouldn't mind going all Fireman Sam, I would appreciate it if you could extinguish this damned circle and let me go."

Sam glared at Gabriel for a moment before picking up a bucket of water.

"Before I do this, take that lolly out of my brother's mouth."

"You're no fun, Jolly Green."

Sam glared.

"Fine, but I am only giving in this easily because I have a blonde with legs as high as the Empire State building and a very fiery red head waiting for me."

As soon as the lollypop disappeared from Dean's mouth, Sam put out the fire and with a flutter of wings Gabriel was gone.

"God I really hate that smarmy dick." Dean scowled, humphing loudly and storming out of the room muttering something about checking on Castiel.

Sam bit back a laugh.

Yes Gabriel was a smarmy dick, but he definitely had style!

Dean came back into the room five minutes later with Cas clinging tightly to him. The sight was adorable, Cas' hand was so tiny that he could only clutch at two of Dean's fingers.

In his other hand, Cas was trailing his teddy bear.

"Hey Cas, how you doing?"

"Good. I finished my puzzle and...and I made a model 'pala and I read a story!"

"What story did you read?"

"Little Red Riding Hood."

"Awesome, I used to love that one!" Dean rolled his eyes but couldn't help but laugh when Cas and Sam proceeded to talk about 'the big bad wolf' for ten minutes.

"Right, before I puke up the contents of my stomach, do you guys wanna head out for dinner?"

"Sure, where'd ya wanna go?"

"Cindy's?"

"Sure thing, that alright with you Bobby?"

"Nah, I'm eatin' in, got a load of paperwork to get through…Garth managed to get his ass caught desecrating a grave…and I'm the one who has to dig him out of it…literally!"

"Have fun with that. We have a hot date with some triple bacon cheeseburgers…and fries, lots of fries."

Dean grinned, lifting Cas up and spinning him round before grabbing some sheets of paper and pens to entertain Cas on the way to the diner.

The only pens they had were permanent markers, so Dean made a mental note to buy Castiel some felt tips, pencils and crayons. And maybe some new puzzles to keep him occupied whilst they were researching re-aging spells, potions and rituals.

Dean sat Cas up in his new car seat which Bobby had bought and handed him the paper and pens.

"What do I draw?"

"Uh, I dunno, a rainbow or something."

"I only have black and red."

"Uh, a Dalmatian then."

"Ok." Cas sat and began to draw, clutching the pen tight in his hand as Dean pulled out of Bobby's yard, being careful to avoid the potholes and scrap cars.

They had only been driving for five minutes when a deer ran across the road, causing Dean to hit the breaks with as much force as possible.

"Shit, everyone ok?"

Dean glanced over at Sam, who was clinging onto the door handle looking pale, and then back at Cas, who looked as if he were about to burst into tears.

"I-I…"

"Cas, are you hurt?"

"N-no, b..b-but-"

Cas didn't have a clue what to say, so he looked down at the seat of the Impala, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks.

"What is…"

And then Dean saw.

Right there, on his beloved Car seat…his Baby…his lifelong companion…was a thick black streak of permanent ink.

"I-I didn't m-m-mean…I…De-…I…M'sorry…I…I…" Cas was unable to get anything else out, his entire body shaking with sobs.

"Hey Cas, it wasn't your fault, you didn't mean it, it was the deer." Sam smiled reassuringly, picking up the pen from the floor and chucking it out of his open window before any more damage could be caused.

But Dean didn't say a thing.

"It wasn't your fault…was it Dean?!" Sam emphasized the last part of his reassurance, hoping Dean would back him up and make Cas feel better.

But his older brother said nothing, his jaw set as he nodded gruffly and began to ponder how on earth to clean his beautiful leather.

My car…not my car…I'm so sorry Baby!

The rest of the journey was deathly quiet, apart from Castiel's occasional sniffles and hiccups.

And things did not improve when Dean pulled up outside the diner and parked.

The walk inside was also undertaken in a stony silence, other than Dean ordering their food.

Cas continued crying softly as he drank his milkshake, despite the waitress bringing him a dot-to-dot to do, complete with a pack of crayons.

The silence was deafening, until Dean finished his burger and stood abruptly.

"I'm gonna try and get that pen off. Seya in a minute."

Dean walked out. He knew he shouldn't be angry with Cas, it wasn't his fault, but still…his car…

He'd make it up to Cas later.

Meantime, Sam was softly trying to coax something out of Cas.

The toddler had shut down, his nose was running and his eyes were streaming. He wouldn't talk or smile, despite Sam's pleading and reassurances.

"Please Cas, he isn't angry at you…it really wasn't your fault."

"I-I's sorry."

"I know Cas, look, just finish up your milkshake, I'll settle up and then we can go and talk to Dean, help him clean up the Impala."

Sam ruffled Cas' hair and stood, wandering over to their waitress, who was chewing gum and leaning against the counter.

"Hey, thanks for trying to cheer Cas up, he and my brother had a bit of an altercation in the car."

"That's alright sweetie, I hope you boys sort it all out."

Sam nodded and turned, dropping his wallet at the sight before him.

There, at table 22, where they had been sitting, were the remains of an upturned milkshake drip, drip, dripping onto the floor.

And Cas…Cas was nowhere to be found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what to do :D


	10. Chapter 10

Cas walked down the sidewalk, tears mingling on his cheeks with the rain that had begun to fall.

His breath was coming in hitching sobs and his shoulders shuddered with emotion.

He had royally screwed up, as Dean often put it.

Again.

He failed as an adult, and he failed at being a child too. Dean was upset with him, Sam was just being nice to placate him and Gabriel had disappeared once again.

No one wanted him, so he may as well just leave. It's not as if anyone would miss him anyway.

Shuddering against the cold Cas sniffled and wiped the tears away from his eyes. His back had started aching again and his feet were killing him, but Cas ignored the pain. He knew that he had to get as far away as possible so he didn't mess up the Winchester's life any more.

Carrying on walking, Cas didn't even notice the puddle that he trod in, meaning that his jeans were now soggy and clinging to his skin, making the little angel shiver even more.

Furthermore, he didn't notice the kind faced woman carrying her shopping bags and walking in the opposite direction to him.

In fact, he was so lost in his own world that Cas only noticed he wasn't alone when he was lying on the ground having walked into something, dazedly wondering what had happened.

"Oh my goodness sweetheart, what are you doing out here all on your own? Here, let me help you up." The woman began to gush out comforting words, scooping Cas up and burying his face in her bosom. Cas squirmed a little at first, he hadn't got a clear look at the woman and didn't know if she was nice or not, but all of the fight left his tiny body and he began to sob bonelessly.

"It's ok lovely, shhh, hush now." The woman rocked Cas gently and kissed his hairline, and Cas was so far out of it that he didn't realised he was being carried further from Sam and Dean until the woman stopped again.

"T-thank you. B-b-but I-I need t-to g-g-go." Cas wriggled a little, squirming out of the woman's tight hold.

"Oh, I don't think so honey."

And that was all it took for Cas to realise that he had made a huge mistake.

An even bigger mistake than getting permanent marker on Dean's baby.

He began to kick and struggle harder, screaming as he looked up and saw the woman's face.

Not the matronly face with short, curly red hair, freckles and smile lines, but the face beneath.

The face of a demon.

"Lemme go! HELP!" Cas yelled at the top of his voice, whimpering and thrashing to no avail. There was no-one around, not at that time of night and when Cas was placed, screaming into a car he knew that no-one was going to save him this time.

The demon snapped two pairs of cuffs onto Cas, one around his wrists and one around his ankles, rendering him incapable of moving.

"P-please let m-me go. I-I- Dean will…Please!" The demon cackled in delight and slammed the car door in his face, catching two of his cuffed fingers in the door.

Cas screamed as the fragile bones in his fingers snapped.

The demon laughed.

...

Sam ran around the diner frantically, asking everyone if they had seen a black-haired four year old.

Apparently none of them had.

SHIT, SHIT, SHIT and DOUBLE SHIT.

Sam cut his losses and ran outside to Dean, who's ass was hanging out of the Impala door.

"DEAN!"

"Jesus Sammy, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Dean, who had hit his head on the roof of the Impala scowled, rubbing his forehead pointedly.

"Cas has gone!"

"What?"

"He's gone, Dean."

"What do you mean gone?"

"Gone, vanished, disappeared, fled, hit the road on his own…SHIT!"

"How?"

"I don't know, I was just settling the bill and when I turned around he wasn't there!"

"You don't think someone got him do you?"

"I don't know." Sam threw his hands up in frustration. "I mean, he was pretty upset, so he could have just taken off on his own accord…but, demons have been after him before, so maybe…" Sam ran a hand through his hair and felt his eyes well up.

"Don't worry, we'll find him."

Dean slammed the Impala's door shut and began to jog down the road, calling out for the missing four year old.

"CAS!"

"CASTIEL." Sam followed Dean's lead, shouting himself hoarse.

"CAS."

"CAS, CAN YOU HEAR US? WHERE ARE YOU?"

"CAS!"

"CASTIELLLLLLL!"

Sam gave up after half an hour of running around like a headless chicken and jogged over to Dean, who was trudging towards him dejectedly.

"No sign?"

"Nope. Nada."

"What do we do?"

"Head back to Bobby's and call Gabriel I guess."

"Oh yeah, great. Hey Gabriel-the-all-powerful-archangel…just FYI, we lost your baby brother."

Sam groaned but gave a small nod. What choice did they have?

"C'mon, drive home, there's no point staying hear and catching something."

"Fine." The brothers made their way to the Impala, Dean slumping down into the drivers side whilst Sam joined him, shotgun.

"Dude, you look like crap."

"Yeah, well…I guess I feel kinda crap…if I wasn't so out of order to Cas he'd have never ran away."

"We don't know that, he could have been kidnapped."

Neither of them truly believed that.

Cas could be naïve and yes he was a toddler, but he wasn't stupid, and neither were they.

Both brothers knew that Cas had taken off as he felt so awful for getting ink on Baby.

"We'll sort this out. Are you sure you don't want me to drive, you look ready to drop?!"

"Thank you for your assessment, Dr, Phil. Now shut the hell up!"

"You do look awful, but this isn't your fault." Dean opened his mouth to protest that he looked amazing, as always, but Sam interjected. "I'm not an idiot, Dean."

"Coulda fooled me sometimes."

"That's just 'cause you’re too easy to fool."

Both brothers huffed and made it back to Bobby's in record time.

…

Castiel screamed in agony as the demon knelt over him, taking his battered hand and pinching his two broken fingers between her own.

"You poor little thing, that looks sore."

Cas didn't give her the satisfaction of answering.

"How about I improve you hand a little more, feathers?"

Cas shook his head, shying away from the demon, who laughed at his feeble attempt and twisted his already broken fingers.

Castiel screamed.

"Now, I'm feeling in a creative mood today. How about I come up with some more inventive ways to break your other eight fingers?"

Tears slid down Castiel's face as the demon took his little finger and placed it on the ground before stomping down hard, crushing the bone and cackling in delight as it splintered and fragments pushed out through the skin.

"Hmm, a bit boring I think. One moment."

A second later a hammer materialized in the demon's hand. At first, she tapped Cas' index fingers gently, increasing the force of each blow until a loud snap echoed through the basement.

The remaining six fingers were broken in equally agonizing ways, with the demon dropping a weight on one, laughing as Cas' finger was practically flattened, the skin tearing as blood gushed and pooled on the floor.

The demon then took the next finger over, twisting it all the way back until the bone broke in two, piercing through the thin skin.

The next was also snapped, but this time with a mousetrap.

"Are we having fun yet?"

Cas bit down hard on the demon's arm, gagging against the taste of blood.

"Oooh, that tickles. And you just gave be a great idea."

With a twisted smile the demon took Cas' little finger, biting it clean off and chewing on the flesh and bone, grinning widely to show Cas the blood and skin covering and trapped between her teeth.

The ninth was then burnt until it was black, the stench of flesh choking Cas so much that he barely even felt it when his last finger was chopped off with an angel blade.

Weakened, Cas' wings unfurled. He no longer had the energy to keep them inside his vessel and soon he was writhing around on his stomach as the demon took great pleasure in plucking out his feathers, one by one.

After what felt like the hundredth feather, Castiel passed out, not noticing when the demon stood to leave.

…

"YOU DID WHAT?!" All trace of cockiness and humor w had left Gabriel's tone. He looked furious and even Dean backed away from him a little.

"Look, he…uh, he just took off, there was nothing…"

"If I were you, I'd shut up before I smite both of your asses. Not that you asshats are worth the effort. Right, I'm going to find my baby brother, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my sight."

With that, Gabriel disappeared, only to appear a moment later.

"He's in an abandoned cabin down south. You wait outside the cabin and keep watch; I'll go in and save Cas."

The Winchesters didn't have time to brace themselves before they were skyrocketed into the middle of a field, a few yards away from a falling-down cabin.

Gabriel was nowhere to be found.

…

Gabriel knew that walking into the cabin was a bad idea, but when he was immediately grabbed from behind and pinned down by a demon, he realized just how much of a bad idea it had been.

He cried out when an angel blade tore through his chest and didn't even have time to wonder where the demon got it from before he passed out in agony.

…

The archangel didn't wake until he was dropped into the middle of a basement and trapped within a ring of flaming holy oil.

This was not his day and for the first time in his life, he prayed for himself.

He prayed that the Winchesters would take some initiative and bust this hell-hole wide open.

"Have fun cooking with your baby brother, angelcakes?"

Gabriel raised his head and spotted the limp figure of Castiel lying unmoving on the ground. He forced himself to make his way over to the little boy, managing to stroke a hand through his matted hair before passing out again.

...

When Gabriel next woke, he wiped a tear away from his eyes as he took a closer look at his little brother's torn and battered flesh.

It took all of his will power not to gag.

Ignoring his own pain, the angel stood and picked Cas up.

He tries hard to be gentle, tries so goddamn hard to be careful of his brother's wounds, but Cas wakes and starts screaming anyway.

Gabriel desperately tried to explain to the wailing toddler in his arms that he had to do this, that he had to clean and tend to the wounds, that he was sorry, so goddamn sorry, that he wasn't trying to hurt him, but in the end Gabriel gave up on being gentle and let out a frustrated growl before dragging Cas further away from the flames, into the centre of the ring in jerky, rough movements.

Castiel's cries ripped through Gabriel but he forced himself to continue, placing Cas down and rolling him onto his stomach, petting the kid’s black hair and whispering soft apologies…it was all that he could do to take away the pain. The fire had drained his powers and he was pretty much helpless…it was a horrible feeling for the archangel.

"I'm sorry, little brother. I'm so fucking sorry."

"H'rts." Cas whispered, curling in on himself in an attempt to get away from further pain.

"I know Cas, shhh, hush now. Just relax, try to sleep. I'm gonna wrap up your fingers to stop them hurting." Gabriel knew this was a lie and that no matter how many makeshift bandages he applied, Cas would still be in pain, but hey, what else could he do. It wasn't as if he could come out and say, 'hey I'm gonna wrap your hands in strips of dirty material and it's not gonna help with the pain at all. In fact, it will make the pain worse, but at least your fingers wont move more.'

Cas nodded and cried softly as Gabriel prepared to sort his hands out, taking off his own shirt and ripping it into strips, which he promptly began to wrap around Castiel's broken fingers.

Cas bucked and tried to pull away, his hands still cuffed, but Gabriel had a firm hold on his skinny wrists.

The older angel thanked his lucky stars that the demon hadn't thought it necessary to cuff him as well, but then again, the burning holy oil was preventing him from escaping, cuffs or no cuffs.

"A-are y-you done?"

"Yes Cas, you did so good. I'm proud of you little brother, can you show me your wings? I need to clean them up too."

"D-don't want to. T-they h-hr't real bad."

"I know, but I have to clean them, Cas. You need to unfurl them, I know you don't want to, I know it's sore, but you have to be brave for me."

Not wanting to disappoint his brother, Cas obliged, unfurling his wings with a gasp of pain.

"Well done. Now, I'm going to take out the loose feathers and clean you with some holy water, it's all that I've got. Sorry." Gabriel says it loudly, annunciating each word to let Cas know what he was about to do. He didn't want the tiny toddler completely freaking when he touched his back.

When Gabriel pulls out the first loose feather, Cas keens, arching his back and practically howling.

"STOP! PLEASE….aghhhh." Cas sprung into a sitting position, burying his face in Gabriel's chest and digging his fingers into the older angel's skin, carving red half moons into his flesh.

Gabriel didn't comment as rivulets of blood trailed from where Cas was clawing him. He knew that Cas wasn't in control of his own body and there were more pressing matters at hand, such as the way Cas' breaths were coming in harsh, almost asthmatic pants.   
By the seventh feather, Cas was screaming wordlessly, no longer able to kick, arch away or speak coherently and Gabriel could feel his heart hammering with exertion.

By the ninth feather, Cas was too weak to fight back, so instead he cried, begged and whimpered for Gabriel to stop torturing him.

But Gabriel bit down hard on his own lip and continued until he had removed twenty-six loose feathers. Cas' wings were sparse now, huge patches of feathers missing.

If Gabriel were to guess, he would say that over seventy feathers had been removed by himself and the demon.

But he wouldn't allow himself to think about how much pain that must have caused.

"Ok Cas. It's almost over." Gabriel watched Cas tense as he pulled a bottle of holy water from his jacket and unscrewed the lid, cautiously pouring it over Cas' bloody wings and back.

This time Cas didn't scream.

He passed out from the pain.

…

"Dude, it’s been way to long. We need to go in there."

"Gabriel said to wait."

"I don't give a rat’s ass, Cas is hurt in there and Gabriel is a no show. I'm going in."

Sam sighed and followed his brother, knowing damn well that this was a bad idea. The whole thing was a trap for them, and here they were, walking right into it with their heads held high.

Clever.

…

When Cas woke, he uncurled a little and shuffled forward, nuzzling against Gabriel's skin and biting his lip.

He smiled softly as his older brother smiled reassuringly and pulled him into a soft hug.

Gabriel could tell that the tiny angel was trying his hardest not to cry, not to draw attention to himself, and felt his own heart break a little. He cradled Cas' head with his hand, cupping Cas' cheek and whispering to him.

"You can cry Cas, go ahead. There's nobody here but me and you. You're safe, you can cry with me. You're ok now. I won't let the demon hurt you again. I promise I will smite her, ok?"

Apparently this was all the encouragement that Cas needed, because seconds later he had buried his face into Gabriel's shoulder and was sobbing so hard that Gabriel thought he was going to suffocate himself. His entire body was shaking with the force of Cas' sobs and Gabriel let a few of his own tears fall as he kissed his brother's temple and promised that they would get out of there soon.

Not that he had any idea how to do so.

But for now, he settled with wrapping his own wings around the broken angel.

Keeping him warm was the only thing the all-powerful archangel could do.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone :D Thank you so much for your support! I am going to add multiple chapters tomorrow as I am away, just to let you know :D

When Cas woke up the next morning he was battered with an unrelenting onslaught of pure agony.

Jolts of pain shot from his broken fingers, up his arms and down the entire length of his spine. It shook him through his very core and everything, up to and including his wings and toes seemed to ache and throb.

He felt sick and whimpered as he dry heaved weakly.

The only plus side was that he was warm, and comfortable, which was weird considering the fact that he had been trapped in a basement.

"Hey buddy, you up?" Cas blinked blearily and suddenly he remembered.

Gabriel was here, his brother had come to save him, and therefore, everything was going to be alright in the end. He knew that Gabriel would never let him down.

"G-Gabe?"

"Right here, kiddo."

"My hand hurts r-real bad. P-please make it g'way."

"Oh Cassie, I'm sorry little man. I promise I will make the pain go as soon as we get out of here. I'll fix you up first thing, but I can't right now because of the holy oil. Just give me time. I will get us out of here, I promise."

Castiel nodded. He believed his brother, he really did. However, he didn't know how long it would take for Gabriel to make his words true and whether he could fight the pain long enough.

With a tiny sniffle Cas buried his face in his older brother's chest and wrapped his arms around Gabriel's neck, crying softly when the pain in his hands became too much.

"Shhh, sleep little brother. I'll take care of you. Just rest. This will all be over soon."

Gabriel rocked Cas back and forth until the four year old fell asleep again. It worried him how tired Cas was, but he was only a fledgling and it was better for the kid to be asleep than awake and in pain.

…

Dean burst through the front door of the cabin, knife in hand.

He knew damn well that he was being infinitely and undeniably stupid, but at least he would have the element of surprise. After all, no-one but a Winchester would be dumb enough to walk straight into a cabin with an unknown quantity of demons inside. He would definitely cause a stir, which was all they needed. If they shocked the demon/demons enough, then they would have the upper hand.

"Dean, you see anything?"

"No Sammy, you take that way, I'll go this way."

Sam nodded and followed his brother's instructions, fear pounding through him. He hoped against all hope that Cas would be ok, and Gabriel for that matter…but mainly Cas.

The little angel had done so much for them, Sam couldn't remember the last time he had seen Dean so happy. He was a natural-born father, whether he would admit it or not and with Cas as a child, both Cas and Dean were getting the love they needed and deserved.

It would kill Sam if Cas was snatched away.

It would kill all of them…one way or another.

"Sam, I think I've got something!"

Sam turned and ran towards his brother, freezing when he saw Dean being thrown across the room by an invisible force.

"DEAN!" Sam sprinted forward and was hardly surprised when he too was thrown and pinned to the wall beside his older brother.

"Shit, LET US DOWN." Dean ground the words out, gasping in pain as blood trickled down the left side of his face.

"Now why would I do that? I'm quite enjoying looking at you as a wall hanging. You boys really are handsome."

"Tell us what you want, we'll do it, just let Cas go."

"How about no?"

"How about I kick your ass!"

"If you hadn't noticed, you are the one that is pinned to a wall, Sunshine."

"Shut up you black-eyed sonofabitch and put us down before I do something we'll all regret."

"Oh, I am so frightened." The demon gave a loud cackle, but dropped Sam and Dean to the floor. Sam managed to land on his feet, but Dean fell to the ground, clutching his head as the world spun around him.

"Dean?!"

"M'right." Dean's voice slurred as a dribble of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.

"DEAN. Stay with me man, don't sleep yet, keep your eyes open."

"Oh aren't you two just adorable." The demon grinned, walking over to the brothers and once again pinning them down.

Then, she knelt down next to Dean, wiping her hand harshly over the bloody wound in his head and probing the deep cut with a finger.

She then drew out the digit, licking the blood off and smiling.

"Delicious. You do taste as good as you look. I always thought that you and your brother look good enough to eat."

Dean let out a low groan, he wanted to kick and lash out but his limbs just weren't obeying him. His head was pounding worse than the time he had been on a bender with some mates at high school.

His last moments of consciousness were spent battling the urge to throw up, but for once will power and anger were not enough and Dean faceplanted the floor, slumping down into a pool of his own vomit.

"DEAN!" Sam screamed, straining against the wall as the vein above his temple throbbed and pulsed.

"Don't worry, my pet Giraffe, he's just sleeping. For now…" The demon ran her hand over Dean's face again, licking more of his blood off of her hands before wiping the last few onto her clothing, staining the poor woman's apron.

Sam hoped that she wasn't awake in there, watching these events unfurl.

With a growl he began to chant in Latin, knowing that he was fully exposed to attack. But what other choice did he have?

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursion infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica."

The demon howled with rage and threw Sam across the room, sending him crashing into a solid oak table.

But Sam didn't stop chanting.

"Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te."

The demon let out a scream and doubled over.

"DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare."

The demon screamed in and agony as it was expelled from the woman's body, which dropped to the floor.   
Sam allowed himself a small, satisfied smile before hurrying to his brother's side.

"Hey Dean, Dean? Can you hear me man? Shit…DEAN! Wake up man, Cas needs you, I need you. You can't let me down now big bro…"

Dean groaned as he stirred and was met face-to-face with a frantic looking younger brother.

"Dean, thank God! I thought…"

"M'alright. Jeez, get out of my face…gay…" Dean rolled onto his side and gagged a little before staggering to his feet.

"Ugh, my throat hurts like a bitch."

"Yeah, well, that's why your stomach acid is meant to stay in your stomach."

Dean grunted and wiped his mouth before muttering something about finding Cas.

He made it two paces across the room before collapsing back down to the ground.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey…I got you Dean. Relax." Sam eased Dean back up again, only letting go once Dean had stopped swaying.

"Sick." Sam moved out of the way, just in time to avoid the remains of Dean's dinner. Damn he had hit his head hard…he never did anything by halves!

"Just breathe through it Dean, there can't be anything left for you to puke up."

Dean squirmed a little before proving Sam wrong.

"You ok?"

"Peachy. How 'bout you?"

"I'm good."

"Liar, you're clutching your side as if you need an appendectomy…"

"It’s an appendectomy, dumbass. And I'm fine, just a little bruised."

"Fine, jackass."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Dean groaned a little when his head lurched again, but stayed upright this time.

"Well, I was gonna say earlier is that the basement is that way, and I'm willing to bet Baby that Cas is down there."

"Awesome." Somehow, Sam's tone was not overly enthusiastic.

Just before they made it to the basement door, the woman on the floor stood, looking dazed.

"Oh my God, what have I done…I-I don't- I cant….Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God…" The woman burst into tears and Sam hurried over to her side.

"Shhh, it’s ok now, you didn't do anything. You were possessed, Miss."

"J-Janet. My n-names Janet. Oh God, that poor kid, I hurt that poor little child…his fingers." The woman began to sob harder, no longer able to get any words out.

"It's alright. There's an old truck outside, hotwire it and get the hell out of here."

The woman nodded, pulling off her bloody apron in disgust and fleeing the room.

"Right, let's go save some angels."

…

"Hello boys." Gabriel looked up from within the ring of fire and smiled briefly, retracting his wings, which had been shrouding Castiel.

"Shit Gabe, you ok?"

"I'm fine, just get us outta here."

"You're covered in blood"

"Sadly, not much of it is mine." Gabriel sighed, nodding down at Cas, who was still sleeping.

"Shit…is he alright?"

"No. But it’s nothing I can’t handle. The problem is, I'm powered down in here, so get me out. Don't go busting anything thinking so hard, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself…" Gabriel's usual sarcasm was missing, although it was clear that he was trying to be an arrogant dick like usual.

It really wasn't working, the angel looked completely drained.

"How do we do that?"

"Water, dumbass."

"Right, water." Sam ran and came back two minutes later with two buckets of water. He had spotted them by a hose outside the cabin on their way in.

In an instant, the flames were put out and Gabriel rose. His wings flashed into sight for a second as he strode foreword with Castiel in his arms.

Then, the angel swiftly passed Cas to Dean and pressed his fingers to both brother's foreheads, zapping them to Bobby's house in an instant.

"WOAH…GOD, I nearly shot yer ass off!" Bobby, who had just slopped his beer down himself, stood up, brandishing a pistol.

"Bobby, God, its Cas…he was kidnapped…and…" Dean broke off, staring down at Castiel who had just jerked awake with a gasp.

The toddler stared around, his face screwing up with pain and confusion.

"It's alright little man, your home now."

Dean cuddled Cas closer as the angel began to wail, bringing his hands to his chest and writhing in Dean's arms.

"Woah, It's ok. You're safe now. Gabriel, can you…" Gabriel had already stepped forewords and with a flash of white light and ten loud cracks, Castiel's hand was fixed. His sobs died down to muffled sniffles as the angel flexed his hand a little before fisting Dean's shirt.

"M'sorry D-De…I didn't mean to u-upset y-y-your car."

"Hey, that's alright buddy. She needed re-upholstering anyway. God, I'm so sorry I upset you Cas, but you never should have run away. I thought I'd lost you…" Dean swayed alarmingly and if it wasn't for Sam, Bobby and Gabriel catching him, he would have fallen to the floor and crushed Cas in the process.

"Gabe?" Sam looked imploringly at the angel, who mended Dean with another flash of light before walking outside the room.

"Dean, with me. Sam, can you keep an eye on my brother?"

Sam nodded, taking Cas and allowing him to snuggle into his plaid shirt.

...

"That was a bone-head move, Dean. You coulda gotten killed!"

"I got out, didn't I?! Hell, I got us all out."

"Yeah, well it wasn't just your life at stake. This is Cas we're talking like. Cas."

"You know, I felt like hell for failing him. For failing him like I fail every other God forsaken person I love. I don’t need you on my ass too!"

"Dean, it wasn't your fault." Gabriel sounded deadly serious as he placed a hand on Dean's shoulder and squeezed him.

"I-"

"You can't save everyone, my friend. It was Cas' will to leave, there was nothing you could have done about it. He may be a kid, but he is an angel. He is stronger than you think. Stronger than you."

"A pen Gabriel, a freakin pen. I nearly lost my best friend over a PEN." Dean slammed his fist into a wall, cringing in pain and desperation.

Then, he heard a startled cry from next door; he had woken Cas from his doze.

Sam hurried out, still carrying Cas and the toddler looked up at him from Sam's arms with bleary eyes.

Dean's heart near-as-hell broke right there and then.

Despite being a total jackass, Cas was still staring at Dean as if he was the best thing since sliced bread.

"Sorry Cas, I didn't mean to wake you."

Castiel nodded slowly and reached out for the eldest Winchester, snuggling into his arms as Dean picked him up and hugged him close.

"How about we get some ice cream from the freezer, eh? And then we can watch some cartoons, since you were so brave."

Castiel nodded sleepily and was soon smiling as Dean fed him spoons of vanillery-goodness.

"Yummy?"

"Yes…Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving me. I-I was scared."

"I know you were buddy. So was I."

Cas gave a small nod and snuggled closer to Dean, focusing his eyes on the images of Finding Nemo playing out in front of him and smiling when Sam settled down on his other side.

At the end of the film, when Cas' head was resting on Sam's lap and when Dean thought Cas was asleep, he whispered something that he had only said to five people.

His father, his mother, Sam, Cassie and Lisa.

"I love you, my little angel."

Cas stirred a little and whispered back.

"Love you too Dean. And you Sam. T-thank you for saving me."

"No problem, Cas." Sam ruffled the angel's hair and bent down to kiss his forehead.

"Sleep tight, we'll watch over you."

And Cas did just that, not even stirring when Bobby entered the room and draped a blanket over his three favorite boys, muttering "idjits" as he did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think :D


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've updated twice today, so don't miss the last chapter :D Thank you for all of your support and kudos :D

Cas sat cross-legged on the floor, playing with a few toy cars –Dean would have sworn that it was a coincidence that he had bought them – it definitely wasn't because he had wanted those models when he was a kid.

"Neeeeeeeeeeowwwww...Here comes the Impala, she's about to win the race, but oh…what's this, Cas is closing in quick…who's gonna win…OOOOH, it's a photo finish ladies and gentlemen."

Sam sniggered at his brother's commentary, watching as the ever-serious elder Winchester crawled around on his hands and knees with Cas close on his tail.

"I wins! I wins!" Cas jumped up and down excitedly, but Dean shook his head.

"No way did a Mustang beat my Baby!"

"Did to!"

"Did not! SAAAAAM!"

"C'mon little brother I so won!"

"Sorry Dean-O, but Cas had it in the bag."

Dean pouted and pounced on Cas, tickling the boy until he was giggling uncontrollably…and suddenly he vanished, right before Dean's eyes.

"SHIT. DID HE? DID YOU JUSTSEE…..WHAT? SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!"

"Uhhhh, Dean, where did he go?!"

Bobby walked into the room after hearing the commotion.

"What are you idjits doing?"

"It's Cas, he just disappeared!"

"God, you've had one too many hits to the head, he's right there." Bobby pointed towards the sofa, where Cas was perched, giggling softly.

"Wait, Cas? He really did…one moment he was there, the next…POOF."

"Right…" Bobby settled down next to Cas and grinned, pulling the toddler onto his lap and bouncing the child up and down.

"You're right here, aren't ya Kiddo? Dean's lost his marbles, didn't he?!"

After two minutes of this, Cas disappeared again.

"What the…"

"AHHHH!" Sam yelled in shock when something heavy landed on his shoulders.

Cas had reappeared, straddling Sam's neck with his legs dangling down by Sam's chest.

"SAAAM! PONY!" Cas tugged at Sam's long hair, beaming when Sam stood and began to walk him around the room, pacing back and forth.

"What the hell is this?"

"I dunno…Angel stuff?"

"Huh, looks like the little guy's come of age." Dean grinned, slapping Sam on the ass as he passed by.

"Giddy up Sammy."

"Yeah! FASTER!" Cas laughed at the top of his lungs as Sam sped up…anything to oblige a tiny angel.

The kid had them all wrapped around his little finger.

"So then kiddo? This angel thing, you're the one doing it?"

"Yeah…s'fun…FASTER!"

"But…why?"

"It's fun…I love flying!"

"Wait, you were flying around Bobby's living room?"

"Uh-huh."

"Only an angel…You're gonna get flabby if you keep doing that. Exercise man…" Dean was cut off when Cas landed on his own lap, cuddling him and resting his head upon Dean's shoulder.

"Deeee-can you read for me?"

"Dude, I'm storied out…if I have to read another I'll shoot myself."

Cas shook his head frantically.

"Hey, just kidding. So, what else can we do…other than sitting in a circle reading fairytales?"

"Well, a circus moved into the next town over last week, if you fancy an outing."

"YES PLEASE!" Cas grinned at Bobby, appearing by his side and cuddling the hunter's leg.

"That settles it then." Bobby tried to lower his voice to appear manlier, considering the situation, but there wasn't much a hunter could do about building street-cred when they were being snuggled.

…

Two hours later Cas was clinging to Bobby's hand, practically dragging him from ride to ride and stall to stall.

"Can we play that?!" Cas stopped in his tracks, bouncing on the balls of his feet and pointed gleefully at a coconut stall.

"KNOCK OVER THE COCONUTS TO WIN A PRIZE, THREE BALLS FOR TWO DOLLARS!"

Bobby nodded softly, guiding Cas to the stall with a hand on the toddlers back.

Dean handed over the bills and took the balls, hoisting Cas onto his hip so the little boy could see above the counter.

Two balls later, Cas was gnawing at his bottom lip, looking close to tears. His last two shots had completely missed the coconuts.

"De! I-I can’t do it." Castiel pouted sadly, passing the remaining ball to the Winchester.

"C-can you?" Dean nodded, taking the ball and throwing it at the coconuts, knocking over all 9, which were stacked in a pyramid.

"WE HAVE A FULL HOUSE, COME AND COLLECT YOUR PRIZE LITTLE MAN." The stall attendant beamed at Cas, pointing to the vast array of soft animals.

Cas pointed shyly at a stuffed blue rabbit, smiling when the attendant pressed it into his arms.

"Look after him for me, he's a very good little bunny and he needs lots of cuddles."

Cas' face set in determination and pulled the rabbit tight to his chest.

"So Cas, where to next?"

Castiel looked around, wide eyed and pointed at a roller coaster.

Dean grinned in agreement, running over to it with Cas and waiting impatiently for Sam and Bobby to catch up.

"C'mon Bobby, in ya get!"

"If yer think your gettin me on that, ya got another thing comin!"

"Don't be a spoil sport!"

"Come on Bobby!"

That was it; Cas looked so excited that there was no way he could say no.

How could anyone refuse that cute little face anything?

And that…that was why Bobby was now slumped on a bench looking green.

"Ugh…I swear, no more rides."

"Fine, let's get something to eat." Dean turned and stopped abruptly when he walked face-first into someone.

"Shit, sorry…Gabriel?"

"Howdy fellas!" Gabriel pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and smiled. "I couldn't let you four have all the fun, could I?"

"You came to the circus?"

"Hell yeah, I love these places. Adrenaline, hot chicks and candy everywhere…Heaven."

Dean raised an eyebrow as Gabriel turned, heading over to a cotton candy store and picking Cas up.

"Hi, five sticks of the good stuff please."

The man nodded, handing out the food as Dean paid.

They headed over to a bench, Gabriel having already finished half of his pink, fluffy goodness.

"Hey Cas, aren't you going to eat that?" Gabriel prodded his brother in the side.

"Icky. I want ice cream, or milkshake."

Gabriel frowned.

"Uh, your little brother is a dairy-only zone."

"You gotta be kidding me! This stuff is amazing."

"Go on, just try it. I'll tell you a secret."

Cas looked up, interested.

"I'm gonna tell you something I've never told anyone before. In my personal piece of Heaven, trees are made of lollypops, the river is an ebbing flow of chocolate milk, the flowers taste of wine gums and the clouds…well, they're made of cotton candy."

Castiel's eyes widened, clearly impressed, but Dean snickered.

"It sounds like a freakin Katy Perry music video!"

"Yeah, well, smartass, I came up with the idea first."

"How do you know about Katy Perry anyway, I thought you were a rock and roll fan?"

Sam, Gabriel and Bobby exchanged gleeful looks, this was definitely bargaining material.

"Whatever guys." Dean huffed and pulled his jacket tighter around his chest.

Cas giggled a little and took a bite of the cotton candy.

If it was good enough for his older brother, it was good enough for him.

…

The next thing Sam and Dean knew, they were spinning around on an automated merry-go-round, strapped in and spinning so quickly that the Winchesters felt ill.

Cas however, was loving it.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE."

"UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH." Dean staggered off the ride, his legs buckling a little, much to Sam's amusement.

But not for long, because not soon after he too was on the floor, thoroughly regretting the cotton candy he had eaten.

He always knew that there was a sensible reason for not eating junk food.

"So, one more thing and then we're heading home. It's way past your bedtime little man."

Cas nodded obediently, pointing over to another stand.

It was a hoopla, and the prize was a goldfish.

Dean looked hopeless, what the hell were a group of hunters going to do with a pet? But Cas had chosen that stall, so that was what they were going to do.

"Go on then." Sam passed the rings to Castiel, watching as the toddler threw the rings and looped all three onto the sticks.

Dean was gonna be pissed.

The stall attendant handed over the plastic, water and goldfish filled bag to Gabriel, what with Cas having his hands full of blue rabbit.

"Right, home-time boys."

Gabriel led them all to an empty area before zapping them back to Bobby's.

"C'mon then little man, I'll put your fish in a bowl, you go to bed."

"I'm not sleepy!" Cas protested immediately, wanting to spend some time with his first ever pet.

He had been living on Earth for countless centuries, but had never had an animal companion.

"Cas, bed time. I mean it."

"M'not tired."

Cas pouted, toddling to the sofa and hauling himself onto it.

"Can we watch Finding Nemo again?"

"Fine, but straight to bed after that."

"Not tired…"

Fifteen minutes into the film, Cas was fast asleep, snoring and snuffling softly in his slumber.

"Not tired my ass!"

Dean chuckled to himself before carrying Cas upstairs and tucking him in.

"Night, Angel."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think :D


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all of the comments and kudos, I love you guys <3

When Cas woke up in the middle of the night, screaming bloody murder, both Sam and Dean hurried into his room, flipping on the main light.

"Hey Champ, what is it?" Dean settled down next to Cas, burying himself amidst the yellow teddy, blue rabbit and mountain of blankets.

He could smell the fact that Castiel had wet the bed for the first time since being turned into a four year old and fear coursed through the elder Winchester.

Castiel must have been having a pretty awful nightmare if he lost control like this and the sobs escaping the child's throat were heart wrenching.

Dean reached down to stroke a hand through Cas' hair, but the angel flinched back and wailed.

Cas did not seem to be comforted by his presence at all, and if anything the screams and sobs grew to a higher, more piercing pitch.

"Shhh, shhh, what's wrong? Cas, talk to me…what is it? Are you hurt? Here, let me…"

As soon as Dean reached for Cas, the little boy began kicking and flailing frantically, hitting Dean square in the face with a tiny fist before disappearing.

"Shit, what the hell was that?"

"Beats me…" Sam looked around for the toddler, assuming that he would reappear a few seconds later across the room like he always did.

But he didn't and every creak and gurgle of the house seemed to echo through the empty rooms.

It was almost as if without Cas, there was nothing left.

"Sam-is it me or did he freak out even more when he saw us."

"I thought I was imagining it…what do we do? What did we do?!"

"What's going on?" A bleary eyed Bobby wandered into the room, taking in Cas' empty bed and the Winchester's panic stricken expressions.

"Bobby, thank god…It's Cas, he just freaked out and disappeared. He isn't coming back…when he saw me and Sam he completely lost it!"

"Balls."

Bobby sank down onto the bed and took the blue rabbit into his arms, absent mindedly fiddling with its ears as he pondered the situation.

"Should we call Gabe again?"

"Well, we're gonna have to at some point and there's no time like the present."

With a huff Dean closed his eyes, and moments later there was an all too familiar flutter of wings.

"Yes boys, what can I do for you?"

"Look, its Cas, he just…disappeared…again. He woke us up screaming and crying and then disappeared. I don't know what to do, he was really freaked out. As soon as he saw me and Sam he flipped."

Gabriel sighed and looked down at his hands, the lollypop that was in his mouth disappearing so that his lips could turn down into a grimace.

"I thought this may happen…"

"What, you thought what would happen?" … "What?"

"Was Castiel having a nightmare?" Gabriel bypassed the Winchester's synchronized questions, sinking down on the dry area of Cas' bed.

"I-I can't really…"

"GABRIEL!" All three hunters chorused, causing the archangel to jump.

"Look, it isn't my place to…"

"You have to tell us." Sam yelled.

"Tell us now you sonofabitch!" Dean cursed.

"What a load of balls! We need to know." Bobby added.

"It-I-He…" Gabriel frowned, considering the best way to explain the Winchesters.

But there was no simple, short answer to their question, and his brother needed him, so with a flutter of wings Gabriel disappeared again.

…

When Gabriel returned with a limp Cas lying snuggled to his chest, Dean, Sam and Bobby shot to their feet.

"God, is he ok?"

"Yes, my brother is merely sleeping. He will wake up of his own accord. He was resting on a beach…it was tranquil. He was trying to escape the fear."

"Fine, now then, you owe us all an explanation. So get on with it!"

Gabriel nodded, settling Cas down in his bed, which the angel had mojoed clean.

"Well, as you noticed…demons have been attacking Castiel frequently since he has been turned into a child."

"No shit!"

"Yes, well…this is because they were seeking revenge."

"Revenge for what?"

"Castiel…compromised one of their missions. The demons were trying to attain information from Raziel and Castiel set him free. The only issue was, he got caught in return."

"Raziel, as in the archangel…the one called the 'keeper of secrets' and the 'angel of mysteries'?"

Dean shot Sam an incredulous look that screamed 'GEEK!'

"Yes."

"You're telling me that the demons were trying to get information from the angel of secrets or whoever the hell he is?" Dean scoffed slightly. Demons were getting dumber and dumber by the second!

"Yes."

"Well there's irony…anyway, that still doesn't explain where Cas comes into all this. Why is he a kid?"

"Well, when Castiel was captured he was…"

Gabriel cut himself off, shuddering.

"He was what?"

"Tortured. They tortured my little brother…God…I-"

Suddenly Gabriel burst into tears, his shoulders having as his breaths hitched and caught in his vessel's throat.

"Hey, Gabriel, it wasn't your fault." Sam looked at a loss, I mean, what do you do when an archangel begins to cry in front of you?

"But-if I h-had only been a good brother, if I had got there before they had broken Castiel…"

"Hey, relax, Cas is fine. He's not broken…just a bit smaller and jumpier than usual."

"No, he isn't fine. When I found Castiel there was barely anything left of him, the demons had injected him with demon blood, pulled out his feathers one by one and siphoned off his grace…oh God, the pain. Pain that you cannot imagine. My little brother…"

Gabriel was cut off by another sob and Sam settled next to him, pulling the angel into his arms and hugging him tightly.

Dean didn't even have the heart to comment on how chick-flick the scene was.

"Anyway, by the time I found Castiel he was barely alive…he was incoherent, rambling about bees and honey. He kept talking about unhappy dogs…he was completely unhinged. I knew that he didn't have long, so I did what I could. I healed his physical wounds as best as I could and then cast a spell on him to reinstate his innocence. However, as you can see, there were some unexpected…results."

"You mean to say you failed to read the part of your spell book on side effects…like, this spell may turn your freakin angel pint-sized!"

Gabriel nodded softly, looking up at Dean with wide, pleading eyes.

"I did not know, Dean. I swear if I had known… I was unaware of the side effects. But I do not regret my decision. Healing Castiel and restoring his innocence was all I could do to ensure that he remained safe and happy. If I hadn't, I fear Castiel would no longer be with us. I just wanted to make him happy…" Gabriel trailed off, the distress evident in his wavering voice.

"Yeah, well, he really looks happy right now!" Dean motioned helplessly to sleeping four year old, who was subconsciously fisting Bobby's plaid shirt and burying his face in the hunter's neck as he slept.

"I agree that he is still has a way to go emotionally, but after what he went through it is hardly surprising."

"But Cas has been tortured before, I mean, he's had his wings plucked on more than one occasion and who knows how many times he's been stabbed and beaten."

"Sometimes, sometimes pain is not purely physical."

"I know that, I've been to freakin Hell and back. But what can a demon do to traumatize an angel enough to make him cry and wet the bed! Why was he so afraid…even of us!"

"The demons used his loved ones against him."

"What do you mean?"

"You."

Gabriel was met with three blank stares.

"When Castiel was being tortured, the demons were torturing him emotionally as well, using hallucinogens and their powers to appear as you do. They took on your features, hair, eyes, voices…even your clothes. Despite Castiel knowing it was not truly you hurting him, I am sure that you can appreciate that the psychological effects of this treatment. When he had a nightmare, or more accurately a flashback, he must have found it hard to differentiate between reality and the past."

"Shit…" Dean sank down to the floor, resting his hands on balled up fists as he tried to process this information.

The demons had tortured Cas using his face…no wonder the kid was having flashback/nightmare thingys and freaking out.

Hell, anyone would, angel or not.

The sick sonsofbitches!

"Right, so what do we do about it?"

"Well, I have comforted Castiel as best as I can and have informed him that his nightmare is over. For now, all you can do is look after him and reassure him. I'm sure I am coming close to finding a cure. Just give me time."

Sam nodded, helping Dean to his feet and wandering over to Cas, who was beginning to stir.

"I must leave now." Gabriel vanished, just as Castiel opened his eyes and looked around, startled.

"Dean? Sam? Bobby?"

"Yeah kiddo, we're here." Bobby said gruffly, rocking the child and ruffling a hand through his hair.

"You're safe now Cas, do you want to go back to sleep?"

"Yes. With you." Dean nodded, taking Cas from Bobby and heading into the eldest hunter's room. He was grateful that Gabriel had taken the initiative of mojoing Cas into clean pajamas.

It went unsaid, but Dean knew Bobby wouldn't mind the brothers taking the double bed.

Sam followed close behind, wrapping an overly long arm around Castiel and kissing him on the forehead, before watching as Dean did the same.

Cocooned between the two brothers, Castiel began to drift off again and although he dreamt of carnival rides and rabbits, flashes of red and cold metal flitted across his vision from time to time, causing him to toss and turn.

Every time Cas jerked in his sleep, the Winchester's would stroke his back until the angel settled down again, whispering softly to him that everything was alright.

They spent the rest of the night like this, neither Winchester getting any sleep. They were both too preoccupied with comforting their angel and wondering how on earth Gabriel was going to put him back together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think <3


	14. Chapter 14

When Castiel woke the next morning he stretched contentedly, snuggling closer to Dean's chest and nuzzling against him.

"Morning sleepyhead. You ok now?" Castiel looked up at Dean, nodding softly and gazing at the hunter's exhausted face. It was clear that his friend hadn't slept at all during that night, and a quick glance at Sam told him the same thing.

"Hey Cas."

"Hi Sam."

"No more nightmares?"

"No. C-can we have breakfast?"

"Sure thing buddy, what do you want to eat?"

"Porridge?" Dean had finally managed to convince Cas to try some more food, even though it was all milk based – Dean put twice the amount of milk in with the oats than recommended.

He also slipped in some honey to make it sweeter, so Castiel didn't complain about the taste.

"Sure thing buddy, do you wanna have a bath or something while I get it ready?"

Castiel nodded, watching as Sam took his cue and wandered into the bathroom, turning on the taps and filling the bath tub with bubbles, warm water and a couple of rubber ducks that Dean had bought in a moment of weakness.

God, his older brother was a complete pushover when it came to kids…

Not that Sam would ever dare to mention it to Dean's face.

Seven minutes later, Castiel was settled inside the tub, playing with the rubber ducks and giggling as he splashed Sam with water.

Sam too was fighting back his own laughter, scooping up handfuls of bubbles and placing them on Castiel's head, snorting when Cas looked around confused for a moment before swiping them away.

The Winchester then took one of the rubber ducks and pretended to make it swim, whilst Cas guided his next to Sam's.

"You ready for your hair to be done now?" Cas nodded, continuing to play with the bubbles as Sam washed his hair and massaged shampoo into his scalp.

"Right, you're all done. There's a towel on the rack." Sam smiled before turning and leaving the room, leaving Cas with some privacy so that he could climb out of the bath and cover himself.

"Hey Cas, breakfast's ready." Castiel heard Dean calling from downstairs, so hurried to pull on his trousers and a tiny AC/DC T-shirt that Bobby had found. To be truthful, the hunter had bought it mainly for Dean's benefit, rather than Castiel's.

He then ran downstairs, taking two steps at a time before skidding to a halt in front of Dean.

"Porridge?"

"Yeah buddy, eat up." Dean pushed a small bowl towards Cas, who was completely distracted by the goldfish swimming in a fish bowl on the kitchen table.

"My fish!"

"Yeah, kiddo, your fish." Dean sighed, the carnival had been great, but what the hell were a group of hunters meant to do with a freakin fish…there was no way they could take it on a hunt or anything.

"What's his name?" Cas asked, looking closer at the fish and beaming as his scales shone in the light.

"I dunno, you name him." Cas' eyes lit up and he gasped.

"Really?"

"Sure thing, it's your fish. So, what's it going to be?"

"Ariel."

"As in The Little Mermaid?"

"Yeah, and most angel names end with –iel." Cas beamed, rather pleased with himself for coming up with such a brilliant name.

"Ariel it is then. Anyway, eat your breakfast."

Castiel nodded, eating a few mouthfuls and frequently glancing up at the fish.

When Sam and Dean had their heads turned, he scooped up a spoonful of porridge and placed it into the fish bowl, smiling softly.

"Hey, CAS! What are you doing?!"

"Feeding Ariel, she's hungry."

"No, no Cas. You can't feed a fish porridge!"

"Why not?"

"Fishes don't eat that stuff, it will…I don't know, they just don't. It could kill her. Don't worry, Bobby's gone to the store, he'll get some proper fish food for you.

Cas nodded, his lip wobbling as he realized that he could have hurt his first ever pet.

"I'm sorry Dean! I c-can't look after anyone right." A single tear trickled down Castiel's cheek and Dean wiped it away with a calloused finger.

"Don't worry buddy, we'll put her in another bowl."

Minutes later, Ariel was swimming in another, bigger bowl and Cas was watching her with wide eyes and a fascinated expression.

"Deeeean?"

"Yes?"

"What if she gets lonely? I can't always play with her and she might get sad."

"Cas, it's a fish."

"She's a fish. And that doesn't matter. God made all creatures equal."

"Cas, Ariel will be fine."

"But-"

Dean was thankfully saved by the bell…Bobby was back from his shopping trip.

"Mornin idjits, m'glad the house is still in one piece."

"Ye of little faith!"

Bobby snorted with derisive laughter before scooping Cas up and giving him a tight cuddle.

Cas smiled, relaxing into the hunters embrace before looking up at him.

"Bobby, did you get Ariel's fish food?"

"I sure did buddy, here you go. Just give her a pinch."

Cas did as he was told, watching with fascination as Ariel swam to the top of the bowl and began to eat the flakes.

…

Once everyone was fed, the dysfunctional family went into the lounge to watch Toy Story, although the three hunters would refuse point blank to acknowledge this fact at a later date.

However, halfway through the film, the hunters exchanged a worried glance.

Castiel was curled up in a tiny ball by their feet, quaking softly and although he was facing the screen, it was clear by his vacant expression and glassy eyes that the little boy wasn't paying attention.

"D'ya think it's the nightmare upsetting him?" Dean whispered.

"Probably." Sam replied quietly, leaning down to scoop Castiel up.

None of the adults failed to notice Castiel's flinch and sharp intake of breath.

"Hey baby boy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Castiel's voice cracked as he buried his face into Sam's plaid shirt.

It was clear that the little boy didn't want to talk about whatever was troubling him.

…

That night, with Cas tucked in bed with his teddies, Gabriel appeared in the living room with a bag of sherbet lemons and a smug expression.

"I've found it!"

"Found what?"

"The meaning of life and the purpose of trigonometry…a cure for Cas you hairless ape!"

"What is it?"

"A spell."

"Fabulous…that's what got us into this mess in the first place!"

"Look, it'll work this time. Anyway, we can only do it during a full moon which is in two days, and we need pig's blood, my blood drawn with a platinum blade, the bone of a dog, three vials of lamprey essence, four scoops of African dreamroot and a few words of Enochian."

Sam and Dean shot him a worried look.

"Look, it's as easy as pie."

"Well, let's go and find Nigella's recipe book…" Dean snorted, to him, the spell didn't sound simple at all.

"Are you sure it'll work?"

"Certain."

"Somehow I'm not convinced."

"Stick it Dean…anyway, see you guys in a couple of days. Make the most of them."

"We will." Sam sounded somewhat miffed that Gabriel had found a cure and Dean couldn't help but be saddened to.

With a flutter of wings Gabriel disappeared and the hunters headed upstairs. They gently eased into the single bed and cuddled him, wanting to enjoy their last few hours with an angel who would soon loose his people skills and turn into a fierce warrior of God.

Neither Winchester was happy about the prospect.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning came around far too quickly for Dean's liking. He only had that day and the next to enjoy with pint-sized Castiel before he was zapped back to his normal, I-have-a-stick-up-my-ass self.

Although Dean treasured the real Cas and they shared a profound bond, he had truly enjoyed spending time with the little guy. He was adorable and it was nice to be depended on again, it reminded him of looking after Sammy when he was a kid. But Sam didn't need his help to get dressed or eat anymore, and he certainly didn't want cuddles all the time.

But of course…Dean didn't enjoy the hugs; they were totally for Castiel's benefit…kind of…

He never allowed himself to think about a parallel life much – a life without hunting – but whenever he did he envisaged having a couple of kids, a hot wife and a job as a mechanic, not that he had ever told anyone this. Not even Sammy knew what he truly wanted from life, although he probably suspected.

This was probably why Dean got on so well with the four year old angel, this had been his one chance of fatherhood and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.

Which was why he had organized a trip to the lake that lunchtime.

It was a gorgeous sunny day and he had packed everyone's swimming trunks as well as some old blow up beach balls that they could play with …the toys hadn't seen the light of day for years, it was about time for them to be played with!

…

Castiel was beaming in delight as Dean helped him to wriggle into a new pair of swimming trunks behind a tree.

"There y'go sport, you ready to go now?"

"YES! WE SWIM NOW!" Castiel practically bounced up and down and Dean snorted with laughter. As soon as Cas had gotten wind of what they were doing, he had been incredibly over-excited. After all of the years he had spent monitoring the human race, he had never once had the opportunity to learn to swim and to say he was delighted was a definite understatement.

"Yeah Cas, we can swim now." Castiel gave another little bounce as Dean scooped him up and carried him over to the waters edge, where Sam was dangling his overly long legs into the lake and Bobby was doing the same whilst reading a book.

"Hello you two," Sam looked over at his brother and the angel, "you ready to swim now?"

"YES!"

"Okay, c'mere little guy." Sam opened his arms wide and grinned as Castiel sprinted over to him.

He wrapped his arms around the child, lifting him up and kissing him on the forehead before lifting him up, spinning him round and dipping the Cas' toes into the water.

Cas squealed in delight, wriggling his toes as Sam bounced him in and out of the water before carefully settling him down in the shallowest area, where Cas could stand up on his tiptoes without his face getting wet.

Dean stepped into the water next to Castiel and knelt down next to him as Sam did the same on the boy's other side.

"Right then Cas, first thing you need to do is take your feet of the ground. Then, I'll hold you as you lie down in the water and kick. Oh, and keep your head above the water!"

Castiel nodded, wide eyed as he did as he was told, raising his feet and fighting back the fear of doing so.

"Hey, you're doing good kiddo, keep paddling and try to kick yourself forward a bit."

Castiel nodded, kicking harder and paddling to keep afloat when he moved further, with Sam supporting his waist to keep the angel afloat.

When he managed to paddle a meter between Sam and Dean, without being held, Castiel beamed.

"I DID IT! I DID IT! LOOK DEAN! SAAAAAM! I SWIMMED!"

"You sure did Champ!" Dean cuddled Cas, hauling him onto his back so that Cas could relax and catch his breath for a moment.

"Can I swim again?"

"Sure." Dean placed Cas back in the water, grinning as Castiel began to paddle his way over to Sam, who was five meters away.

"Wow Cas, you're like a duck now!"

"I'm like a fish! Like Ariel!"

"You sure are." Sam grinned as Cas paddled over to Bobby who was pretending to read, but actually watching the most adorable scene in the world over the text.

"Bobby! LOOK! I'm swimming!"

"You are indeed, Kiddo."

Sam and Dean exchanged grins as Cas kicked hard and splashed Bobby in the face.

"Hey! That's it, this is war!"

Bobby slid off of the embankment into the water, splashing Cas before hauling the boy up onto his shoulders and tossing one of the beach balls to Dean, who in turn chucked it to Sam, who gently threw it to Cas.

The little boy wriggled in delight as he caught the ball and Bobby bounced him up and down a little, stopping so Cas could throw the ball back to Sam.

This continued for a further ten minutes until Castiel wriggled down from Bobby's shoulders, slipping into the water and resurfacing a couple of seconds later, coughing and spluttering.

"Hey, you ok there?"

"Y-yes. That was fun!"

Sam glanced at Cas to check this was true before snorting with laughter at how pale Dean had gone. He literally looked as if he was about to faint or puke.

"Dude, he isn't going to drown on our watch. We'd be more likely to win the lottery twice...and go on holiday to the Grand Canyon without being forced into a job."

"I guess." Dean nodded, letting his guard down as Castiel paddled up to some ducks.

"Hey Ducks!"

"QUACK!" The ducks all dispersed in different directions as Castiel swam after them.

"Hey, CAS, NOT SO FAR!" Sam saw that Cas was swimming further and further away from them.

"CAS!"

"CASTIEL!"

Castiel didn't hear the Winchesters', continuing to paddle further out of reach. However, his legs were beginning to cramp from the continuous paddling and he was getting breathless.

Sam had begun to swim after Cas, gaining on him swiftly but not before Castiel sank beneath the still water, unable to keep afloat any longer.

Panic swept through the little boy as he began to sink, water pouring into his mouth, ears and eyes as he tried to breathe.

Sam sped up, kicking as hard as he could with Dean hot on his tail, gaining on both of them. Both brothers dived beneath the water, frantically searching for the little angel.

A few moments later Dean spotted Cas, hauling him up in his arms and swimming to the surface of the lake as fast as he could.

"H-hey, CAS! C-CAS! W-Wake up!" Dean spluttered, carrying Castiel's limp body to the waters edge as fast as he could.

"CAS!"

Bobby hurried over to Dean, helping him lay Castiel on the grass.

The little boy was still conscious, but unresponsive. He was gazing around dazedly, his eyes unfocussed as he struggled to sit up, coughing violently.

"Hey, hey Cas, it's alright. Breathe Cas, please!" Castiel choked, tears pouring down his face, making it harder for him to inhale.

Dean rolled Castiel onto his front, supporting his waist as the little boy gagged and vomited up a load of pond-water all over the grass.

"Shhh, don't cry Cas, shhh, s'okay. I've got you, you're safe."

Castiel continued to sob, but the coughing soon ceased, allowing Dean to lift him up and lean the child against his chest. The angel buried his head in Dean's neck, sniffling and clinging to Dean's shoulders, digging half moons into the tanned skin.

"You're ok now." Sam rubbed Cas' back gently, kissing the back of his head as the boy shivered.

"Hey little guy, you're frozen. Here…" Sam picked up his jacket from the embankment and wrapped it around the quaking boy like a blanket.

"Hey, how about we take you home for a hot chocolate?"

Castiel nodded sadly, allowing Sam to carry him back to the Impala.

The little boy was silent other than the occasional sniffle.

"You ok Cas?"

"M-my throat h-h'rts."

"That's because you were coughing so much, here, drink this." Castiel took the proffered bottle of water in his shaking hands, sipping it as he continued to sniff.

"I-M'sorry. I didn't mean to be bad."

"You weren't bad kid, just a bit silly." Bobby ruffled Cas' hair, pecking him on the forehead and rubbing his back as the boy fell fast asleep.

Dean ran a hand through his hair and kept glancing at Castiel in the mirror.

"Relax Dean, he's ok."

"What if he catches a cold or something? Or gets ill? Oh god…he could have drowned. He could have died!"

"He didn't you idjit."

Bobby shook his head fondly at the panic-stricken Winchester.

Who ever said Sam was the girly, soppy one?!

…

Castiel was wedged on the sofa between Dean and Bobby, his legs draped over the eldest hunter and his head resting on Dean's lap. He was rubbing his throat absentmindedly and coughing occasionally, but he was buried under a mound of blankets, so at least the shivering had subsided.

The little angel had just finished his milky hot chocolate and was now watching Cars 2 through half lidded eyes, suckling his thumb as he did so.

It was clear the boy was exhausted, but none of the men made a move when Cas inevitably fell asleep halfway through the film. They didn't have the heart to disturb the sleeping child, he looked so peaceful.

…

At one in the morning all four boys were asleep on the sofa.

Bobby's head was resting on his chest as he snored loudly.

Sam was slumped forward – bent almost in two as he murmured softly.

Dean was asleep with his mouth wide open – resting his head on Sam's shoulder and drooling over his brother's shirt.

Cas was spread out across the three men's legs, limbs splayed out like a starfish.

For once, all four of them were at peace.

They had one more day of Castiel being a kid, and they were going to make it the best in history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think xxx


	16. Chapter 16

When Dean woke up he felt Castiel lying across his chest. The little angel had shifted in his sleep so he was sitting on Dean's lap with his head resting on the hunter's shoulder.

His tiny arm was pressed up against Sam's shoulder, his wings had unfurled to just about cover all three hunters and he had managed to drool a lake on Dean's shirt.

"M'rnin sl'py h'd!" Castiel looked up at Dean and blinked a few times, his eyes widening comically as he yawned widely.

"Hi Dean!" Dean grinned, ruffling Cas' hair and kissing the angel on the forehead before lifting him up onto Bobby's lap. The oldest hunter was still sound asleep and didn't so much as move when Castiel fisted his shirt and fell asleep again.

With a sad smile Dean headed into the kitchen, beginning to prepare breakfast. He started with eggs and tomatoes, moved onto hash browns and cooked up some sausages and bacon. Then, he turned to Bobby's blender, cramming in strawberries, a banana, milk and ice cream. These were a combination of the few foods Castiel would eat … and even then they had to be in a liquid, milky form.

But Dean wasn't going to pick up on it today.

Today, everything was going to be perfect.

Sam and Dean had organized a small party for Castiel, which Dean was going to prepare for whilst Bobby and Sam took Castiel to the children's petting zoo.

Of course, the little angel didn't know anything about this, so when he was sat down at breakfast and Bobby told him, he almost imploded with excitement.

"The zoo!"

"Yeah little man, you can go and play with all the animals while Dean-O does some work at home."

"Dean not come too?"

"No, sorry Cas, but I've got some stuff to sort out. But don't worry, Sammy and Bobby will look after you."

"Ok." Cas smiled softly, sucking the remains of his milkshake up through a pink straw before announcing that he was going to the toilet.

Sam smirked at this and began to pack his duffel with some food and warm clothes for Castiel before placing everything in the trunk of Bobby's truck. Then, when Cas came back down, he lifted the boy up and carried him out.

"Have fun guys, don't squash anything…AND NO MORE PETS!" Dean called after the other two hunters.

Bobby nodded in consent and joined in with Sam and Cas, who were waving goodbye to Dean cheerfully.

…

Castiel beamed as the tiny hamster ran between his hands, up his arms and onto his shoulder.

"LOOK! He likes me!"

"He sure does, look over there kiddo."

Sam pointed over at the budgie cage and Cas nodded excitedly, squealing when he was handed a stick with bird food on it and a budgie immediately landed on his fingers and began to peck at it.

"Look! She's sitting on me!"

"Yeah she is." Cas giggled as a couple of budgies landed on Sam's head and tangled their claws in his overly-long hair.

"Hey, oi, bird…get out of it!" Bobby doubled up with laughter as Sam shook his head wildly and flapped his arms around.

To be honest, he looked more like a bird than the budgies.

Then, Cas moved over to the rabbits.

There was one which was particularly fluffy and the woman at the stall stated that it was an Angora rabbit.

"LOOK! BOBBY! SAAAAM! LOOK, IT'S FLUFFY!" Bobby nodded, jumping a little when Cas jumped up and placed a bundle of fluff into his arms.

"Yeah, it sure is!"

Bobby patted the rabbit awkwardly, earning himself a wide grin from Cas and Sam soon followed, snapping a few pictures now that he had finally extracted the birds from his hair.

"Hey, we'd better head back to Dean now. He'll have finished his work now."

"OK!"

…

Castiel's eyes lit up comically with excitement when he walked into the lounge and found it full to the brim with balloons of varying shades and sizes.

Furthermore, the table was laden with homemade cupcakes that Dean had spent all morning baking. There were also crisps, jelly, popcorn, a bowl of melted chocolate and chopped fruit.

There were also multiple jugs of milkshake.

"SURPRISE!"

"WOW!"

"You like it littleun?"

"YEAH!"

"This is soooo cool!"

"Glad you like it kid."

"I love it!"

Castiel beamed and picked up one of the milkshakes, sucking on it happily before turning his attention to the biggest cake, which was shaped like a fish bowl with a tiny image of Ariel the fish on it.

"Wow!"

"D'ya like it? It's an angel cake!"

"Wow!"

"Wanna slice?"

Cas nodded and watched as Bobby cut the cake, handing the little angel a slice.

"This is really nice!"

Dean nodded proudly, and once all of the boys had eaten, they went into the lounge and began to watch Finding Nemo for the umpteenth time; all four of them snuggled up on the sofa with the bowl of popcorn.

They were happy, and for a few hours, nothing at all mattered apart from the small, dysfunctional family in the room.

…   
Four hours later, Gabriel appeared in the middle of the lounge, holding all of the things he needed for the ritual, as well as a huge grin.

"Hey Cassie-Bear! Looks like it's time for you to get big again." Castiel looked up from his position on Sam's lap and shook his head.

"No? What do you mean no?"

"I like being small now."

"Cas, you have responsibilities. We need you up in Heaven; the lot of them are fighting up there like two year olds over crayons!"

"But!"

Cas looked at the hunters imploringly, his eyes filling with tears.

"You have to go back little man, I like little you as well, but you can't leave behind your brothers."

"You my brothers!"

"I-" Dean looked away, tears filling his eyes, which he wiped away furiously.

"Cas, Dean's right. And so's your brother. I hate to say it, but older brothers are almost always right." Dean grinned at Sam's comment, before kissing Cas on the forehead.

"Sorry kiddo, but you have to."

Gabriel nodded, glad that they finally had come to an agreement.

"Look, you may want to wait outside, Cas is like a bomb ready to go off, too much pent up energy. He may be unable to control it, so if you like your eyesight the way it is, wait behind the door. And don't come in, no matter what you hear until I say it's alright. Ok?"

"Ok." Dean nodded, giving Castiel one last kiss on the tip of his nose before turning and waiting outside in the hallway. Bobby followed suit, ruffling the child's hair and waiting for Sam, who cuddled the little angel close and whispered to him that everything was going to be alright.

Castiel nodded terrified, trying to cling on to Sam a little while longer, but the hunter untangled the boy's fist from his hair and placed him in Gabriel's arms.

"Just look after him."

"Of course I will. He's my baby brother."

Sam nodded and joined Bobby and Dean in the hallway, sitting down on the floor and trying to ignore the whimpers and screams of pain coming from the room beside him.

Dean was so tense that he was quivering, each one of Castiel's cries causing him to twitch. On two occasions, the hunter sprung to his feet to go in and help, but Bobby and Sam held him down.

"Gabriel said not to come in."

"B-but the screaming. Oh God…he's hurting Cas…I can't…I-"

"We know Dean, stay strong for him. We all need you to stay strong." Dean sagged at this, burying his head in his arms and squeezing them against his ears, trying to block out the pained screams.

It didn't work.

Just as all three hunters thought they couldn't take it any longer, there was a blinding flash of white from underneath the gap in the door and everything went silent.

"Is he ok? Gabriel damnit, is he alright?"

"I am perfectly functional Dean, there is no need to worry. My vessel is intact." Castiel's deep voice rumbled from the next room.

Before Sam and Bobby could stop him, Dean had barged through into the lounge ready to hug Castiel.

However, he stopped in his tracks at the sight before him.

Castiel was naked.

Very naked.

As naked as the day he was born…if angels are born that is. They probably just poofed into existence or something!

"Shit Cas, put some damn clothes on. Ya nearly gave me a frikkin heart attack!"

Castiel tilted his head confusedly.

"Your heart is perfectly functional Dean, although I would recommend taking better care of your vessel by consuming less alcohol and burgers."

"Dude, figure of speech. I meant, cover your god damn dick up before I faint."

"I do not understand your issue Dean; you have seen my vessel's genitals before. In fact, you helped me bathe them just-"

"WOAH! TMI dude, just, please…that was when you were cute and small!"

"I thought men were told that size doesn't matter?"

"Ugh, I am not talking about penis size with an angel of the Lord. Just put on your trenchcoat or something!"

Castiel nodded and with a sweep of his hand, he was fully clothed, all the way down to his backwards blue tie.

"That's better. Anyway, how are ya feelin?" Bobby asked, stepping forward and looking the angel up and down for any signs of injury.

"I am fine, thank you Mr. Singer."

"Mr Singer? Bobby, seriously, only me Nan called me that. Anyway, if you are fine, what was with all the screaming and crying?"

"Well, the transformation was rather unpleasant, but my vessel is no longer compromised. Thank you for your concern."

Bobby nodded, somewhat incredulous and sank down into his armchair.

"So Cas, you're all good now?" Dean questioned, and when Castiel nodded, he went over and hugged the angel.

Of course, Cas stood there like a stuffed lemon and didn't return the hug. In fact he just tilted his head in confusion.

It looked like things were back to normal.

"I'm gonna miss little you."

"I am the same person Dean, just bigger. And are you not invading my personal space right now?"

Sam snorted with laughter and Dean shot them both a bemused look.

"I think after bathing you, changing your diapers, wiping your ass and feeding you, we have gotten over that boundary."

"Yes, all of are bonds are much more profound now."

"Great…now enough of the chick flick moment. I'm knackered." Dean slumped down on the sofa, Sam following him and without further ado, exhaustion took over and both hunters fell asleep.

It had been a long day, physically and emotionally.

Gabriel laughed, before turning to his brother.

"Do you want to go home now?"

"I already am at home, with the people I love."

"I mean heaven…Huggy Bear."

"Not just yet, I will meet you there in the morning. And Gabriel…thank you."

"No problemo-just next time try not to get shrunk."

There was a flutter of wings, leaving Bobby and Cas the only ones present and awake.

"Well, I'm gonna hit the sack too, so see you tomorrow?"

Castiel nodded, watching as Bobby walked upstairs.

He then wandered into the kitchen for want of something to do, and sat at the table. He spent an hour watching the fish, Ariel, swimming in its bowl. There was a sparkle in his eyes, a reminder of his child self. 

Then, he went back to Sam and Dean, who were still fast asleep.

Dean was hugging the lemon teddy bear to his chest tightly, and Sam had his old blue rabbit lying across his lap.

A strange feeling of warmth shot through Castiel and he sank down between the sleeping brothers, unfurling his fully grown wings and wrapping them around the hunters.

And then it struck him.

The sensation he was feeling…it was love.

With a smile, Castiel rustled his feathers a little and sank further down onto the sofa.

Although he no longer needed to sleep, he was perfectly content with keeping the Winchesters warm and staying on the sofa with them for the whole night.

After all, it was his turn to protect them now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think - last chapter tomorrow :O xxx


	17. Chapter 17

When Dean woke, he felt something warm and fluffy around him and groaned, rolling over a little and pulling the feathers tighter around his body…FEATHERS?!

Dean sprung to his feet, horrified when he realized that he had practically cuddled a full-grown Castiel.

He wasn't a kid any more and somehow cuddling a grown-up Castiel didn't seem right.

"Hello Dean."

"Hello?"

"That is the correct term, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is…but why are you hugging me?"

"I was merely keeping your brother and yourself warm."

"Uh, thanks Cas. Have you been watching us sleep all night?"

"Yes Dean, I have been watching over you."

"Great, like that aint creepy." Dean tried to oomph up the sarcasm in his voice, but it didn't really work as his heart was melting like a pound of butter left outside in California.

"So, Cas, you been back upstairs yet?"

"Not yet, I wished to spend a bit more time with you. I am eternally grateful for all that you and Sam have done for me. You saved my life on countless occasions and raised me to adulthood."

"Yeah, well, you raised me from perdition and all that, so I guess we're even."

Castiel smiled at this and Dean flinched when he saw a flicker of four-year-old Cas' contagious grin and cute laugh.

"Dean…you are upset. Have I done something to offend you?"

"What? No Cas, you haven't. I just…"

"You do not like me anymore, now that I am older, do you Dean?"

"What? Of course I do, it's just…"

Dean broke off when he saw Castiel's hurt expression and before he could say anything else Castiel vanished with a rustle of feathers, waking Sam up.

"Morning Jerk. What…" Sam cut off when he saw Dean's crestfallen face and the look of guilt etched across his green eyes.

"What did I miss?" He finished lamely.

"Cas, I upset him real bad man, I just-god I'm such a jerk. I mean, he looked like he was going to cry!"

"Dean, he's a full on angel now. Adult angels don't cry."

"How do you know? Just because you haven't seen one doesn't mean that they don't."

"I…I'm sure he's fine."

"He isn't. He did that scruntchy-up face thing that little Cas always used to do when he was upset. And he pouted like he used to as well."

"Don't worry Dean, you can't lie to him. We all miss the little guy. He'll get over it, Cas has faced worse."

"I guess so."

Dean still looked like he was about to cry himself, so Sam wrapped an arm around him.

"What else is bothering you? And don't say nothing cos we all know I'll get it out of you in the end."

"He hugged us all night Sam. He sat between us on the sofa all night and covered us in his wings to show that he loved us and that he is thankful…and this is what I do to repay him. I go and make him cry. SHIT!" Dean stood suddenly, kicking the oak side table angrily, only to curse more when his toes screamed in protest.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Bobby entered the room, staring incredulously at Dean who was hopping around the room clutching his foot and swearing like a sailor.

"He upset Cas." Bobby and Sam exchanged a look that said it all and moments later Bobby returned from the kitchen with three beers.

It was 6pm somewhere in the world…

"Cheers." Dean accepted his beer and slumped back down on the sofa, huffing as he drank the cool liquid and turned on the television.

No one was paying attention to the western that happened to be playing.

…

All three men were dozing when a flutter of wings alerted them of Castiel's re-appearance.

"Hello."

"Hey, Cas!" Dean sprung up and hugged Castiel, almost making the angel drop what he was carrying.

"What's that?"

"A photo album. I filled it with photographs from our time together. I hope you like it."

Dean watched open mouthed as Cas placed the album in his hands.

He settled on the sofa and began to flick through it, tears welling up in all three hunters' eyes when they saw the images.

"Cas, it-it's beautiful."

"I am glad you like it, Dean. Now you don't have to be upset, you still have little-me with you."

Dean blinked back his tears and stood, Sam and Bobby swiftly following.

"ANGEL SANDWICH!"

Dean burst out laughing as the three hunters engulfed Castiel in their arms, hugging the startled looking man as he looked at them wide-eyed and tried to pull away awkwardly.

"Guys…hello? You are invading my personal space!"

Bobby snorted and looked fondly at his three boys.

None of them could have been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go :D I hope that you enjoyed it xxx


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